Pinch
[pɪn(t)ʃ] or [pɪntʃ]
Definition
(noun.) a squeeze with the fingers.
(noun.) an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed.
(noun.) a painful or straitened circumstance; 'the pinch of the recession'.
(verb.) irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear; 'smooth surfaces can vellicate the teeth'; 'the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back'.
(verb.) squeeze tightly between the fingers; 'He pinched her behind'; 'She squeezed the bottle'.
Checked by Letitia--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To press hard or squeeze between the ends of the fingers, between teeth or claws, or between the jaws of an instrument; to squeeze or compress, as between any two hard bodies.
(v. t.) o seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals.
(v. t.) To plait.
(v. t.) Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money.
(v. t.) To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4.
(v. i.) To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches.
(v. i.) To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.
(v. i.) To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous.
(n.) A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip.
(n.) As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.
(n.) Pian; pang.
(n.) A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar.
Typed by Bernadine
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Nip, squeeze, compress, gripe.[2]. Oppress, straiten, distress.
v. n. Bear hard.
n. [1]. Nip, gripe.[2]. Emergency, exigency, crisis, strait, difficulty, push.
Editor: Miles
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See EMERGENCY]
Typed by Jed
Definition
v.t. to grip hard: to squeeze between two hard or firm substances: to squeeze the flesh so as to give pain: to nip: to distress: to gripe.—v.i. to act with force: to bear or press hard: to live sparingly.—n. a close compression with the fingers: what can be taken up between the finger and thumb: an iron bar used as a lever for lifting weights rolling wheels &c.: a gripe: distress: oppression.—n. Pinch′commons a niggard a miser.—adj. Pinched having the appearance of being tightly squeezed: hard pressed by want or cold: narrowed in size.—ns. Pinch′er one who or that which pinches; Pinch′ers Pin′cers an instrument for gripping anything firmly esp. for drawing out nails &c.; Pinch′fist Pinch′gut Pinch′penny a niggard.—adv. Pinch′ingly in a pinching manner.—At a pinch in a case of necessity; Know where the shoe pinches to know where the cause of trouble or difficulty is.
Editor: Mary
Examples
- And he took another gentle little pinch of snuff, and lightly crossed his legs. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The little man took another pinch of snuff as he made this communication, and nodded mysteriously to Mr. Pickwick. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- No, no,' replied Mr. John Smauker, pulling forth the fox's head, and taking a gentlemanly pinch. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- You haven't got a pinch of snuff about you, have you? Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Or, a small pinch of the acid in powder is placed in every bottle before filling. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Did I pinch your legs, Pa? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I couldn't help it, my dear Sir,' replied Perker, with a smile and a pinch of snuff; 'you know how obstinate he is? Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- In the meantime, the bowels must be severely pinched into obedience. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- And the little pinched nose of his; so thin was it that it looked half starved. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- She pinched her husband's arm as they entered the oak parlour, where Sir Pitt and his wife were ready to receive them. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- You pinched off one mountain and they pinched off another but when something really started every one had to get down off the mountains. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- She forced a pitiful smile that pinched her face instead of smoothing it. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- I wadn't heed if t' bairns and t' wife had enough to live on; but they're pinched--they're pined---- Well, my lad, and so are you; I see you are. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Don't be long,' said the spinster affectionately, as Mr. Jingle stuck the pinched-up hat on his head. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- The brooding Lammle, with certain white dints coming and going in his palpitating nose, looked as if some tormenting imp were pinching it. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- A long shot, Watson; a very long shot, said he, pinching my arm. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He asks Lydgate all sorts of questions and then screws up his face while he hears the answers, as if they were pinching his toes. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I see men here going about in the streets who look ground down by some pinching sorrow or care--who are not only sufferers but haters. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- And soon afterwards, on the second boy's violently pinching one of the same lady's fingers, she fondly observed, How playful William is! Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- I repeated, pinching her cheek. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I see something of that in Mr. Tyke at the Hospital: a good deal of his doctrine is a sort of pinching hard to make people uncomfortably aware of him. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- That's when the bone pinches something else. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Checker: Roland