Word.ws English Dictionary

in a pinch

in a pinch prepositional phrase: in an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available.
    • It's not a great fashion statement, but in a pinch a large trash bag will keep you dry.
    Synonyms:
    when push comes to shove, when the chips are down, when the gloves come off, at a pinch

in a pinch meaning in Arabic

in a pinch in Arabic

in a difficult situation
الشده

Synonyms of in a pinch

Questions about in a pinch

What does in a pinch mean?
In a pinch means in an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available.
What is in a pinch in Arabic?
In a pinch in Arabic is الشده. See In a pinch meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is in a pinch?
In a pinch is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in a pinch in the dictionary

  1. in a pickle
  2. in a pig's arse
  3. in a pig's eye
  4. in a pig's patoot
  5. in a pig's whisper
  6. in a pinch
  7. in a puff of smoke
  8. in a real state
  9. in a right state
  10. in a row
  11. in a rut

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in a pinch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-in a pinch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “in a pinch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_a_pinch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.