pinch
noun
1. a painful or straitened circumstance
- the pinch of the recession
Definition categories: state, difficulty
2. an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
Definition categories: state, harm, hurt, injury, trauma
3. a slight but appreciable amount
Similar word(s): hint, jot, mite, soupcon, speck, tinge, touch
Definition categories: quantity
4. a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action
Similar word(s): emergency, exigency
Definition categories: event, crisis
5. a small sharp bite or snip
Similar word(s): nip
Definition categories: act, clip, clipping, snip, bite, chomp
6. a squeeze with the fingers
Similar word(s): tweak
Definition categories: act, squeeze, squeezing
7. the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)
Similar word(s): apprehension, arrest, catch, collar
verb
1. squeeze tightly between the fingers
- He pinched her behind
Similar word(s): nip, squeeze, tweet, twinge, twitch
Definition categories: contact, grip
2. make ridges into by pinching together
Similar word(s): crimp
Definition categories: contact, fold
3. make off with belongings of others
Similar word(s): abstract, cabbage, filch, hook, lift, nobble, pilfer, purloin, snarf, sneak, swipe
Definition categories: possession, rip, steal
4. cut the top off
Similar word(s): top
Definition categories: contact, clip, crop, dress, lop, prune, snip, trim
5. irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear
- the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back
Similar word(s): vellicate
Definition categories: change, irritate
Sentences with pinch as a verb:
- The children were scolded for pinching each other.
- This shoe pinches my foot.
- Someone has pinched my handkerchief!
- to be pinched for money