pinch

/pɪnt͡ʃ/

pinch verb: to squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.

Verb

pinch (third-person singular simple present pinches, present participle pinching, simple past and past participle pinched)

To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
- The children were scolded for pinching each other.
- This shoe pinches my foot.
To squeeze between the thumb and forefinger.
- He took the plate in his hand, holding it between thumb and forefinger at one corner, letting it hang down. With the other hand he pinched it at the opposite corner, pressing thumb and forefinger together tightly.2014, Harlan Ellison, Paingod and Other Delusions, →ISBN
To squeeze between two objects.
- Since the resistance of the channel is inversely proportional to its width, the most resistive region is the one pinched between the gates where they come closest to each other.2012, Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Physics of Nanostructured Solid State Devices, →ISBN, page 446
(intransitive) Of clothing, to be uncomfortably tight in specific spots.
- With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention
  While queueing for sarnies at the office canteen.1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull
(slang, transitive) To steal, usually something inconsequential.
- Someone has pinched my handkerchief!
- “Hey, blokes,” yelled Dean or perhaps Serge, “let's pinch a boat.”1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 37
Synonyms:

crib, purloin, steal, abduct, abstract, appropriate, bag, bandit, bash and grab, bone
(slang, transitive) To arrest or capture.

Synonyms:

bust, nick, apprehend, begripe, capture, fang, grasp, get, gripe, lay hold of
To cut shoots or buds of a plant in order to shape the plant, or to improve its yield.
To sail so close-hauled that the sails begin to flutter.
To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.
(intransitive, obsolete) To be stingy or covetous; to live sparingly.
- There was with him none other fare,
  But for to pinche and for to sparec. 1386–1390, John Gower, edited by Reinhold Pauli, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Bell and...
- the wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare1788, Benjamin Franklin (attributed), Paper
Synonyms:

cheesepare, cut it fine, pinch pennies, skimp
To seize; to grip; to bite.
- He [the hound] pinch'd and pull'd her down.1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615...
(figuratively) To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve.
- to be pinched for money
- Camillo was his helpe in this, his Pandar:
  There is a Plot against my Life, my Crowne;
  All's true that is mistrusted: that false Villaine,
  Whom I employ'd, was pre-employ'd by him:
  He ha's discouer'd my Designe, and I
  Remaine a pinch'd Thing;c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch.
(obsolete) To complain or find fault.
- Therefore who so them accuse
  Of any double entencion,
  To speake, rowne, other to muse,
  To pinch at their condicion,
  All is but false collusion,
  I dare rightwell the sothe express,
  They have no better protection,1809, Alexander Chalmers ed. The Works of the English Poets, from Cahucer to Cowper, Vol. 1, modern rendering of poem imputed to Geoffrey Chaucer, "A Ballad which Chaucer made in Praise or rather...
Synonyms:

grumble, rail, beef, bellyache, bemoan, bitch, bleat, whimper, carp, chunter

Noun

pinch (plural pinches)

The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
A close compression of anything with the fingers.
- I gave the leather of the sofa a pinch, gauging the texture.
A small amount of powder or granules, such that the amount could be held between fingertip and thumb tip.
- Mix about four cups of white flour with a pinch of salt.
Synonyms:

smidgen, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb
An awkward situation of some kind (especially money or social) which is difficult to escape.
- And wel his merits ſhew him to be made
  His Fortunes maiſter, and the king of men.
  That could perſwade at ſuch a ſodaine pinch,
  With reaſons of his valour and his life,
  A thouſand ſworne and ouer-matching foes:c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- It took nerve and muscle both to carry the body out and down the stairs to the lower hall, but he damn well had to get it out of his place and away from his door, and any of those four could have done it in a pinch, and it sure was a pinch.1955 October, Rex Stout, “Die Like a Dog”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, →ISBN, page 171
Synonyms:

difficulty, kettle of fish, ass in a sling, bind, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, dilemma
A metal bar used as a lever for lifting weights, rolling wheels, etc.

Synonyms:

crowbar, jimmy, nail bar
An organic herbal smoke additive.
A magnetic compression of an electrically conducting filament.
The narrow part connecting the two bulbs of an hourglass.
- It looked like an hourglass, but all those little glittering shapes tumbling through the pinch were seconds.2001, Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time
(slang) An arrest.

Synonyms:

bust, collar
(Australia, New Zealand) A steep incline; a very steep section of road.
- Down several steep pinches the lubra went sprawling[.]1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 283

pinch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pinch in Tamil

to squeeze a small amount of skin: கிள்ளு kiḷḷu

pinch in Urdu

pinch: چٹکی cuṭkī

More languagesFewer languages

pinch in Bengali: চিমটি কাটা, চেপে ধরা
pinch in Telugu: గిల్లు gillu
pinch in Malayalam: നുള്ളുക nuḷḷuka, പിച്ചുക piccuka, ഞെരിക്കുക ñerikkuka, കിള്ളുക kiḷḷuka
pinch in Kannada: ಚಿವುಟುವುದು, ಜಿಗುಟುವುದು, ಗಿಲ್ಲುವುದು, ಚಿಟಿಕೆ
pinch in Punjabi: چونڈھی cūṉḍhī, ਚੂੰਢੀ cūṇḍhī, ਚੁਟਕੀ cuṭkī
pinch in Gujarati: ચપટી કરવા માટે
pinch in Odia: ପିଞ୍ଚ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ପିଞ୍ଚ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
pinch in Assamese: চিকুটা sikuta, চিকুট sikut
pinch in Nepali: पिन्च गर्न
pinch in Arabic: قَرَصَ qaraṣa, قَرْصَة qarṣa
pinch in Malay: cubit
pinch in Indonesian: mencubit, sejumput
pinch in Persian: نشگون nešgun, نشکنج neškonj, وشکون veškun
pinch in Thai: หยิก yìk
pinch in Vietnamese: véo, béo, nhéo
pinch in Myanmar: ဆိတ် hcit

Examples of pinch in a sentence

Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
want of room […] which pincheth the whole nationc. 1610?, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse of War:
[…]the well-to-do working men did not hope, since they were not pinched and had no means of learning their degraded position[…]1888, William Morris, Signs of Change […] , London: Reeves and Turner, page 105:

All 40 example sentences with pinch

Synonyms of pinch

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of pinch

Forms of pinch

Verb
third-person singular present	pinches
present participle	pinching
past participle	pinched
past	pinched
Noun
plural	pinches

Past tense of pinch: pinched

Plural of pinch: pinches

Origin of pinch

From Middle English pinchen, from Old Northern French *pinchier (compare Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”)), a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pinciāre (“to puncture, pinch”), from a merger of *punctiāre (“to puncture, sting”), from Latin punctiō (“a puncture, prick”) and *piccāre (“to strike, sting”), from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick”). More at point, pick and pitch.

Words formed from pinch

Phrases with pinch

3 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pinch

Questions about pinch

What does pinch mean?: Pinch means to squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
What is pinch in Hindi?: Pinch in Hindi is चुटकी (cuṭkī). See Pinch meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pinch in a sentence?: Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.
What part of speech is pinch?: Pinch can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce pinch?: Pinch is pronounced /pɪnt͡ʃ/.
What is the past tense of pinch?: The past tense of pinch is pinched.

Words near pinch in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: pinch (page history and authors); चुटकी (Hindi) (page history and authors); pinch (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); چٹکی (Urdu) (page history and authors); pinch (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കിള്ളുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); pinch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); چونڈھی (Punjabi) (page history and authors); pinch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinch (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinch (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: 2026-09-02

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

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