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Pinch
Definitions
- 1 The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
- 2 the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal) wordnet
- 3 A close compression of anything with the fingers.
"I gave the leather of the sofa a pinch, gauging the texture."
- 4 a squeeze with the fingers wordnet
- 5 A small amount of powder or granules, such that the amount could be held between fingertip and thumb tip.
"Mix about four cups of white flour with a pinch of salt."
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- 6 a small sharp bite or snip wordnet
- 7 An awkward situation of some kind (especially money or social) which is difficult to escape.
"And wel his merits ſhew him to be made His Fortunes maiſter, and the king of men. That could perſwade at ſuch a ſodaine pinch, With reaſons of his valour and his life, A thouſand ſworne and ouer-matching foes:"
- 8 a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action wordnet
- 9 A metal bar used as a lever for lifting weights, rolling wheels, etc.
- 10 a slight but appreciable amount wordnet
- 11 An organic herbal smoke additive.
- 12 an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed wordnet
- 13 A magnetic compression of an electrically conducting filament.
- 14 a painful or straitened circumstance wordnet
- 15 The narrow part connecting the two bulbs of an hourglass.
"It looked like an hourglass, but all those little glittering shapes tumbling through the pinch were seconds."
- 16 An arrest. slang
- 1 To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
"The children were scolded for pinching each other."
- 2 irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear wordnet
- 3 To squeeze between the thumb and forefinger.
"He took the plate in his hand, holding it between thumb and forefinger at one corner, letting it hang down. With the other hand he pinched it at the opposite corner, pressing thumb and forefinger together tightly."
- 4 cut the top off wordnet
- 5 To squeeze between two objects.
"Since the resistance of the channel is inversely proportional to its width, the most resistive region is the one pinched between the gates where they come closest to each other."
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- 6 squeeze tightly between the fingers wordnet
- 7 Of clothing, to be uncomfortably tight in specific spots. intransitive
"With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention While queueing for sarnies at the office canteen."
- 8 make ridges into by pinching together wordnet
- 9 To steal, usually something inconsequential. slang, transitive
"Someone has pinched my handkerchief!"
- 10 make off with belongings of others wordnet
- 11 To arrest or capture. slang, transitive
- 12 To cut shoots or buds of a plant in order to shape the plant, or to improve its yield.
- 13 To sail so close-hauled that the sails begin to flutter.
- 14 To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.
- 15 To be stingy or covetous; to live sparingly. intransitive, obsolete
"There was with him none other fare, But for to pinche and for to spare"
- 16 To seize; to grip; to bite.
"He [the hound] pinch'd and pull'd her down."
- 17 To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve. figuratively
"to be pinched for money"
- 18 To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch.
- 19 To complain or find fault. obsolete
"Therefore who so them accuse Of any double entencion, To speake, rowne, other to muse, To pinch at their condicion, All is but false collusion, I dare rightwell the sothe express, They have no better protection,"
Etymology
From Middle English pinchen, from Old Northern French *pinchier (compare Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”)), a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pinciāre (“to puncture, pinch”), from a merger of *punctiāre (“to puncture, sting”), from Latin punctiō (“a puncture, prick”) and *piccāre (“to strike, sting”), from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick”). More at point, pick and pitch.
From Middle English pinchen, from Old Northern French *pinchier (compare Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”)), a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pinciāre (“to puncture, pinch”), from a merger of *punctiāre (“to puncture, sting”), from Latin punctiō (“a puncture, prick”) and *piccāre (“to strike, sting”), from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick”). More at point, pick and pitch.
See also for "pinch"
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