[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pinch \pinch\, v. i.
   1. to act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as,
      the shoe pinches.
      1913 webster

   2. hunt. to take hold; to grip, as a dog does. obs.
      1913 webster

   3. to spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous. --gower.
      1913 webster

            the wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare.
                                                  --franklin.
      1913 webster

   to pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to.
      obs. --chaucer.
      1913 webster
see also:
to pinch at 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pinch \pinch\, v. t. imp.  p. p. pinched; p. pr.  vb. n.
   pinching. f. pincer, probably fr. od. pitsen to pinch;
   akin to g. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of celtic origin.
   cf. piece.
   1. 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.
      1913 webster

   2. to seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals. obs.
      1913 webster

            he the hound pinched and pulled her down.
                                                  --chapman.
      1913 webster

   3. to plait. obs.
      1913 webster

            full seemly her wimple ipinched was.  --chaucer.
      1913 webster

   4. figuratively: to cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to
      starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money.
      1913 webster

            want of room . . . pinching a whole nation. --sir w.
                                                  raleigh.
      1913 webster

   5. to move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a
      pinch. see pinch, n., 4.
      1913 webster

   6. to seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift. slang
      --robert barr.
      webster 1913 suppl.

   7. to catch; to arrest a criminal.
      webster 1913 suppl.
see also:
pinched pinching piece pinch 

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pinch \pinch\, n.
   1. a close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or
      with an instrument; a nip.
      1913 webster

   2. as much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any
      very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.
      1913 webster

   3. pian; pang. "necessary's sharp pinch." --shak.
      1913 webster

   4. a lever having a projection at one end, acting as a
      fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. called
      also pinch bar.
      1913 webster

   at a pinch, on a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on
      a pinch read a little latin.
      1913 webster
see also:
pinch bar at a pinch on a pinch 

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

pinch
     n 1: a painful or straitened circumstance; "the pinch of the
          recession"
     2: an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
     3: a slight but appreciable addition; "this dish could use a
        touch of garlic" syn: touch, hint, tinge, mite, jot,
         speck, soupcon
     4: a sudden unforeseen crisis usually involving danger that
        requires immediate action; "he never knew what to do in an
        emergency" syn: emergency, exigency
     5: small sharp biting syn: nip
     6: a squeeze with the fingers syn: tweak
     7: the act of apprehending especially apprehending a
        criminal; "the policeman on the beat got credit for the
        collar" syn: apprehension, arrest, catch, collar,
         taking into custody
     v 1: squeeze tightly between the fingers; "he pinched her
          behind"; "she squeezed the bottle" syn: squeeze, twinge,
           tweet, nip, twitch
     2: make ridges into by pinching together syn: crimp
     3: make off with belongings of others syn: pilfer, cabbage,
         purloin, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak,
         filch, nobble, lift
     4: cut the top off; "top trees and bushes" syn: top
     5: 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" syn: vellicate
see also:
touch hint tinge mite jot speck 
soupcon emergency exigency nip tweak 
apprehension arrest catch collar taking into custody 
squeeze twinge tweet twitch crimp 
pilfer cabbage purloin abstract snarf 
swipe hook sneak filch nobble 
lift top vellicate 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

396 moby thesaurus words for "pinch":
   abstract, ace, acute pain, afflict, agonize, ail, alternate,
   alternative, and, annex, apprehend, apprehension, approach,
   appropriate, arrest, arrestation, arrestment, atom, backup, bag,
   bare cupboard, bare subsistence, beat, beat to windward,
   beggarliness, beggary, begrudge, bind, bit, bite, boost,
   boring pain, borrow, breakers ahead, burglary, burn, bust, caper,
   capture, cardhouse, catch, cause for alarm, center, centralize,
   chafe, charley horse, clamp, clamping, clamping down, climacteric,
   close, close in, close up, close with, close-haul, clutch, collar,
   come together, complication, compress, compression, compulsion,
   concenter, concentralize, concentrate, confine, constraint,
   contingency, converge, convergence of events, convulse, cop,
   counterfeit, cramp, cramps, crib, crick, crisis, critical juncture,
   critical point, crossroads, crucial period, crucify, crunch, crush,
   crux, cubby, cubbyhole, cut, dab, danger, dangerous ground,
   darting pain, defraud, deprivation, destitution, difficulty,
   dilemma, distress, doghouse, dole, dot, dram, dribble, driblet,
   drive, dummy, dwarf, economize, embarrassing position,
   embarrassment, embezzle, emergency, empty purse, endangerment,
   ensphere, equivalent, ersatz, exact, excruciate, exigency, extort,
   extremity, fake, fall in with, famish, farthing, fester, filch,
   fine how-do-you-do, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, fret,
   fulgurant pain, funnel, gall, gaping chasm, gathering clouds,
   girdle pain, give pain, gnaw, gnawing, gobbet, gouge, grab, grain,
   granule, grasp, grate, grind, grinding poverty, grip, gripe,
   griping, groat, grudge, hair, hand-to-mouth existence, handful,
   harrow, hazard, heist, hell to pay, high pressure, hinge, hitch,
   hobble, hole, homelessness, hook, hot water, house of cards,
   how-do-you-do, hurt, imbroglio, imitation, imperativeness,
   imperilment, impoverishment, impulse, impulsion, indigence,
   inflame, inflict pain, intersect, iota, irritate, jam, jeopardy,
   job, joker, jot, jumping pain, kill by inches, kink, knock off,
   lacerate, lack, lancinating pain, lift, little, little bit,
   live upon nothing, luff, luff up, make a pinch, make off with,
   makeshift, martyr, martyrize, meet, menace, mendicancy, mess,
   minim, minimum, minutiae, mite, mix, mock, modicum, molecule,
   moneylessness, morass, mote, nab, narrow the gap, necessitousness,
   necessity, need, neediness, netting, nick, nip, nutshell, ounce,
   pain, palm, pang, parlous straits, paroxysm, particle, pass,
   pauperism, pauperization, pebble, penury, peril, phony, pickle,
   pickup, pierce, pigeonhole, pilfer, pinch pennies, pittance,
   playhouse, plight, ply, poach, point, predicament, press, pressure,
   pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, prick, privation,
   prolong the agony, provisional, proxy, pull in, purloin, push,
   put to torture, quagmire, quicksand, rack, rankle, rash impulse,
   rasp, reserve, rip-off, risk, rob, robbery, rocks ahead, rub,
   run away with, run in, run together, rustle, sail fine, save,
   scamp, scant, scrape, screw, scrimp, scrounge, scruple, secondary,
   seizure, shake, sharp pain, shoot, shooting, shooting pain,
   shoplift, skimp, slough, smidgen, smidgin, smitch, snag, snare,
   snatch, snitch, soupcon, spare, spasm, speck, spoonful, spot,
   squeeze, squeezing, stab, stabbing pain, starve, steal, stew,
   sticky wicket, sting, stint, stitch, stopgap, storm clouds, strait,
   straits, stress, substitute, swamp, swindle, swipe, tad, take,
   take into custody, taper, taste, temporary, tension, tentative,
   theft, thieve, thimbleful, thin ice, threat, thrill, throes,
   tight spot, tight squeeze, tighten, tightening, tightrope,
   tiny bit, tittle, tormen, torment, torture, touch, touch the wind,
   tricky spot, trifling amount, trivia, turn, turning, turning point,
   tweak, twinge, twist, twitch, unholy mess, unite, urge, urgency,
   utility, vicarious, wad up, walk off with, want, whit, wound,
   wrench, wring

[6] : U.S. Gazetteer (1990)

pinch, wv cdp, fips 63772
  location: 38.40736 n, 81.47983 w
  population 1990: 2695 1065 housing units
  area: 9.1 sq km land, 0.1 sq km water

[7] : U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)

pinch, wv -- u.s. census designated place in west virginia
   population 2000:    2811
   housing units 2000: 1194
   land area 2000:     3.507567 sq. miles 9.084557 sq. km
   water area 2000:    0.037141 sq. miles 0.096194 sq. km
   total area 2000:    3.544708 sq. miles 9.180751 sq. km
   fips code:            63772
   located within:       west virginia wv, fips 54
   location:             38.406348 n, 81.484682 w
   zip codes 1990:    
   note: some zip codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   headwords:
    pinch, wv
    pinch

Pinch >> P Words
Pinch, definition of term: Pinch
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