What does "pinch" mean?
The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
Pinch
/pɪnt͡ʃ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
- Grammar: pinch is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: nip, abstract, abstract, ace.
- Useful contrasts: cupfuls, donate, hefty amount.
- Usage evidence: How careless he was to pinch his fingers in the door!
How to use "pinch"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pinch" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pinch" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pinch" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pinch" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pinch" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "nip" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "pinch", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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."
Show 11 more definitions
- 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
Verb
- 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."
Show 14 more definitions
- 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,"
Example
"How careless he was to pinch his fingers in the door!"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pinch"?
Common synonyms include: nip, abstract, abstract, ace, acute pain, afflict.
How do you use "pinch" in a sentence?
How careless he was to pinch his fingers in the door!
How do you pronounce "pinch"?
Pronounced /pɪnt͡ʃ/.
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.