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

Definition categories: act, capture, seizure

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