pinch

[[t]pɪntʃ[/t]]

v. t.

1) to squeeze or compress between the finger and thumb, the jaws of an instrument, or the like

2) to constrict or squeeze painfully, as a tight shoe does

3) to render unnaturally constricted or drawn:

a face pinched with fear[/ex]

4) bot to remove or shorten (buds or shoots) in order to produce a certain plant shape or to encourage growth

5) to affect with sharp discomfort or distress, as cold, hunger, or need does

6) to straiten in means or circumstances:

a family pinched by the recession[/ex]

7) to hamper or inconvenience by the lack of something specified

8) to stint the supply or amount of (a thing)

9) sts Slang.

a) to steal

b) to arrest

10) naut. navig. to sail (a ship) so close to the wind that the sails shake and the speed is reduced

11) to exert a sharp or painful constricting force:

shoes that pinch[/ex]

12) to cause sharp discomfort or distress

13) to economize unduly; stint oneself:

pinched and saved to buy a new car[/ex]

14) min (of a vein of ore or the like)

to diminish

15) the act of pinching; nip; squeeze

16) as much of something as can be taken up between the finger and thumb

17) a very small quantity

18) sharp or painful stress, as of hunger, need, or any trying circumstances

19) a situation or time of special stress, esp. an emergency

20) sts Slang.

a) a raid or an arrest

b) a theft

•

- pinch pennies

Etymology: 1250–1300; < AF *pinchier (OF pincier, Sp pinchar) < VL *pīnctiāre, var. of *pūnctiāre to prick (cf. pique)