pinch
pronunciation
How to pronounce pinch in British English:
UK [pɪntʃ]
How to pronounce pinch in American English:
US [pɪntʃ]
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- Noun:
- a painful or straitened circumstance
- an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
- a slight but appreciable addition
- a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action
- small sharp biting
- a squeeze with the fingers
- the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)
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- Verb:
- squeeze tightly between the fingers
- make ridges into by pinching together
- make off with belongings of others
- cut the top off
- irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear
Word Origin
- pinch (v.)
- early 13c., from Old North French *pinchier "to pinch, squeeze, nip; steal" (Old French pincier, Modern French pincer), of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *punctiare "to pierce," which might be a blend of Latin punctum "point" + *piccare "to pierce." Meaning "to steal" in English is from 1650s. Sense of "to be stingy" is recorded from early 14c. Related: Pinched; pinching.
- pinch (n.)
- late 15c., "critical juncture" (as in baseball pinch hitter, attested from 1912), from pinch (v.). This figurative sense is attested earlier than the literal sense of "act of pinching" (1590s) or that of "small quantity" (as much as can be pinched between a thumb and finger), which is from 1580s. There is a use of the noun from mid-15c. apparently meaning "fold or pleat of fabric."
Example
- 1. The pricing pressures will eventually pinch the profits of u.s. retailers and toymakers . "
- 2. Someone kneels close to pinch betty 's nose .
- 3. When you pinch the skin on the back of your hand it should snap back instantly .
- 4. True bread is flour and water with a pinch of salt and yeast .
- 5. If you 're growing the cordon type of tomatoes , they have a single central stem and you need to pinch out the side shoots that appear between the leaf joints .