pinchn.
/pɪn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /pɪn(t)ʃ/ I. A place or part at which something is or appears to be pinched.† 2. Archery. A weakened place in a bow, causing a bend. Cf. pinch v. 2d. Obsolete.
1. † a. A fold, pleat, or gather in a garment; pleating, pleated fabric. Cf. pinch pleat n. Obsolete.
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the world > space > relative position > folding or folded condition > [noun] > pleating > a pleat
plait1440
prank1440
pinchc1450
plightc1450
pleata1529
tuck1532
lipea1600
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > pleated fabric > pleat
plait1440
pinchc1450
plightc1450
pleata1529
tuck1532
lipea1600
box pleat1857
accordion pleat1884
organ pipe1890
knife-pleat1891
sunburst1897
pin tuck1902
knife-plait1911
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 167 (MED) The surcot..was..wrought with fyn pynche & plesaunce.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 71v It is not your pinches, your purles, your floury iaggings, superfluous enterlacings, and puffings vppe, that can any way offend God.
1595 Pleasant Quippes for Vpstart Gentle-women sig. A4v This cloth of price, all cut in ragges,..These buttons, pinches, fringes, iagges.
b. A bend or fold in the brim or crown of a hat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > brim > upward turn or cock of
cock1668
pinch1710
ramillies cock1711
1710 C. Shadwell Fair Quaker of Deal ii. 20 Your Eighteen Months Pay added to the pinch of your Hat, and dangling of your Cane.
1797 Free-mason's Mag. 8 18 The pinch of his hat is too smart to have been moulded by the clumsy hands of an English hatter.
1860 J. P. Kennedy Mem. W. Wirt I. i. 20 This picture may remind us of Hogarth's ‘Politician’, with ‘the pinch’ so far projecting that the candle burns a hole through it.
1961 Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 16 Oct. 22/4 Wide crown without a pinch and without much taper.
1984 Daily News Record (U.S.) (Nexis) 27 June 1 A big-seller is the London Fog-look in an updated walker with a pinch in the sides.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [noun] > weak place
pinch1545
teara1856
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 5v If you..fynde a bowe that is..not marred with..freate or pynche, bye that bowe.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 10 Freates be fyrst little pinchese, the whych when you perceaue, pike the places about the pinches, to make them somewhat weker.
1634 G. Markham Art of Archerie vii. 53 Finde a Bow that is..not marr'd with Windshake, Knot-gall, Wenne, Fret, or pinch.
3. Mining and Geology. A point at which a mineral vein is narrowed or compressed by the walls of rock; a similar narrowing of a stratum. Frequently in pinch and swell n. a succession of pinches at frequent intervals in a metamorphosed rock (usually attributive). Cf. pinch v. 14c, pinch-out n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > pinching > pinched place
twitch1630
pinch1873
pinch and swell1916
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > stratum > position or direction of strata > narrowing
wedging1819
pinch and swell1916
lensing1923
pinch-out1928
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West 333 All the strange terms in mining parlance: ‘true lodes, fissure-veins, pinches,..variations and sinuosities’.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 234 The north shoot seems to be divided by a vertical pinch.
1916 F. H. Lahee Field Geol. vi. 140 That the country rock was warm and plastic enough to be deformed by the force of intrusion is suggested by the pinch-and-swell form of many pegmatite dikes in schists.
1955 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 63 520/1 The pinch-and-swell structure so commonly developed in conformable pegmatites and quartz veins.
1972 L. E. Weiss Minor Struct. Deformed Rocks 15 Structures closely related to boudins also formed in progressively extended layers are..‘pinch and swell’ structures or ‘necks’.
1986 M. J. Cope in J. Brooks et al. Habitat of Palaeozoic Gas in N.W. Europe 94/2 The pinch-and-swell pattern to the Westphalian A subcrop to Permian.
4. Electronics. A fused glass seal at the base of a thermionic valve through which a wire to an electrode passes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > thermionic valve > [noun] > seal at base of
pinch1928
1928 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 120 426 The filament connections were made to a four electrode pinch which was also made to support the whole assembly.
1954 Electronic Engin. 26 16/1 Electrical leakage may be due to..getter on the pinch and micas of the valve.
2003 M. Jones Valve Amplifiers (ed. 3) iv. 287 Eliminating the glass pinch within the valve and bringing electrode support wires directly to the pins shortened the valve.
5. Physics. A contraction in a cylindrical or toroidal plasma produced by the pinch effect (pinch effect n. 1).
ΚΠ
1951 Proc. Physical Soc. B. 64 161 The discharge becomes brighter when it is contracted, and the brightness and sharpness of the ‘pinch’ increase with decrease in pressure.
1966 F. I. Boley Plasmas ii. 38 The kink instability of the plasma pinch..is an example of a large class of instability phenomena that is important to the dynamics of plasma.
1995 Sci. Amer. Sept. 141/1 The many magnetic fusion devices explored—among them stellarators, pinches and tokamaks—confine the hot ionized gas..by magnetic fields.
II. A state or situation resulting from pinching (in various senses).† 8. The critical or crucial point of an argument, theory, etc.; a crux. Obsolete.† 9. The critical (highest or lowest) point of the tide; the turn of the tide. Cf. pinch v. 16 and pinch-water n. at pinch- comb. form . Obsolete.
6.
a. An instance, occasion, or time of special difficulty; a critical juncture; a crisis, an emergency. Chiefly in at (also in, †on, †upon) a pinch: at a critical moment, in an emergency; (now chiefly in weakened sense) with difficulty, if pressed.See also Jack at (a) pinch n. at Jack n.2 Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [phrase] > in an emergency
at (also to) needc1175
in a needc1225
at (also in, on, upon) a pinch1489
for a need1547
ATA1939
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [noun] > instance or time of need
needOE
needinga1400
indigencec1416
pinch1489
indigency1651
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [adverb] > at a pinch
at (also in, on, upon) a pinch1489
by the shift1665
at (also on, upon) a stress1672
on a shift1842
at or upon a squeeze1892
1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. xviii. 53 Corageously at a pynche [he] shal renne vpon hem.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 164/2 What would ye than haue done? Quod he ye put me nowe to a pynche.
1574 J. Dee in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 39 Any notable benefit..bestowed uppon me now in the very pynch and opportunytie.
1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion xviii. 302 The Norman in this narrow Pinch, not so willingly, as wisely, granted the desire.
a1659 R. Brownrig 65 Serm. (1674) I. iii. 40 The Israelites..send to hire the King of Egypt..to help at a pinch.
1703 S. Centlivre Love's Contrivance i. 14 You used to be a lucky Rogue upon a Pinch.
1789 E. Burke Corr. (1844) III. 89 [We are] without our cook, but the dairy-maid is not a bad hand at a pinch.
1821 M. Edgeworth Let. 9 Nov. (1971) 259 Even her humor would on a pinch submit to her sense of duty.
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xix. v. 511 Fighting fellows all,..but uncertain as to loyalty in a case of pinch.
1936 C. Sandburg People, Yes 67 People lie in a pinch, hating to do it.
1991 Martha Stewart Living Spring 22 A warm basement can also be transformed into a fine growing area, and even a warm spot near a sunny window will do in a pinch.
b. to come to the (also a) pinch = to come to the crunch at crunch n. 1b.
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1565 T. Randolph Let. 12 Oct. in Cal. State Papers Foreign (1870) (modernized spelling) 486 Morton and Ruthven..only espy their time, and make fair weather until it come to the pinch.
1594 J. Lyly Mother Bombie iii. iv. sig. E4 Now it is come to the pinch my heart pants.
1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 113 Hee playes not well at draughts, that onely can avoyd snapping when it comes to a pinch.
1681 H. Neville Plato Redivivus 264 But that Apprehension appeared Groundless when it came to the pinch.
1739 D. Bellamy Perjur'd Devotee iii. 45 If he refuse to commit Matrimony, said I, when it comes to the Pinch, I shall then be satisfied that there is something more than youthful Frailty in the Matter.
a1784 R. Munford Candidates (1798) ii. i. 26 I'll be bound when it comes to the pinch, they'll all vote for him: won't you old man?
1868 W. Collins Moonstone II. ii. viii. 198 And, now it comes to the pinch, my son isn't good enough for you.
1911 W. S. Churchill Let. 14 July in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) iii. 54 We shall not boggle about it when it comes to the pinch.
1986 ‘A. Burgess’ Homage to QWERT YUIOP 49 If it came to the pinch, I could write a fairly convincing novel with a Tokyo setting.
c. Baseball. A tight spot; a critical point in a game, esp. when the game is close or there are players at the bases. Frequently in a (also the) pinch. Cf. pinch hit n.
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1886 Washington Post 10 Oct. 2/5 You have clenched the pennant in great style. Knew we could depend on the old warhorses in a pinch.
1902 Sporting Life (Philadelphia) 12 July 3/3 The Red commander possesses the unhappy faculty of going all to the bad in tight pinches.
1942 L. Fonesco How to pitch Baseball viii. 82 The majority [of pitchers] must depend in a pinch on their best pitch.
1961 J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 327 A ‘pinch’, that is,..when there are runners on base and a heavier hitter or one more apt to hit the opposing pitcher substitutes for the scheduled batter.
1991 Sports Illustr. May 51/2 The Reds were counting on Hershberger..to hit, particularly in the pinch with men on base.
7.
a. Emotional pain, esp. as caused by remorse, conscience, or sorrow; an instance of this, a pang. Now frequently a pinch of conscience.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [noun] > a pang
stitch?c1225
prong1440
twitch?1510
pang1534
pincha1566
aculeusa1612
twinge1622
twang1721
tang1724
twinging1816
brain-ache1836
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment
piningOE
anguishc1225
pinsing?c1225
tormentc1290
afflictiona1382
martyrdomc1384
tormentryc1386
labourc1390
martyryc1390
throea1393
martyre?a1400
cruelty14..
rack?a1425
hacheec1430
prong1440
agonya1450
ragea1450
pang1482
sowing1487
cruciation1496
afflict?1529
torture?c1550
pincha1566
anguishment1592
discruciament1593
excruciation1618
fellness1642
afflictedness1646
pungency1649
perialgia1848
perialgy1857
racking1896
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment > pang(s) of death
agonya1500
pincha1566
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > [noun] > pricking or murmuring of conscience
wormOE
prick of conscience?c1225
bitingc1440
compunction?a1475
grudge1483
pouncea1500
grutch1509
pincha1566
remurmuration of conscience1611
twinge1622
wringing1623
twinging1816
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Givv Ne at this present pinch of death am I dismayde.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 608 No pinch of penalty is comparable to pinch of conscience.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xxvi. 451 Have these convictions..brought you to a great pinch, and inward distress of soul?
1762 D. Garrick Cymbeline i. i. 11 There cannot be a pinch in Death More sharp than this is.
1878 J. Todhunter Alcestis ii. ii. 73 Ay, here's the pinch of parting.
1885 ‘M. Field’ Father's Trag. i. iii. 21 We broke our word. There lies the pinch of conscience.
1960 College Eng. 22 36/1 The aged wit..flunked with a firmly inscribed ‘F’ and no pinch of conscience—any student who was so misinformed or defiant as to write seriously about Thoreau.
1985 O. Imasogie Afr. Trad. Relig. (ed. 2) i. 7 As more facts on African religions became available, the scholars could no longer ignore them without a pinch of the conscience.
b. Stress or suffering caused by cold, hunger, poverty, etc.; hardship. Frequently in to feel the pinch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > oppression, persecution, or affliction > overpowering pressure of an adverse force
stressc1400
distress1485
thrust1513
straint1534
heft1587
pinchc1594
rack1806
pend1823
water stress1991
the mind > possession > poverty > be poor [verb (intransitive)]
to have needOE
needa1300
to have mistera1400
to be low in the world1521
lack1523
pinch1549
to be beforehand (also behindhand) in (or with) the world1615
to feel the pinch1861
to feel the draught1925
the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > endure hardships
to rough it1768
to feel the pinch1861
c1594 J. Dee Compend. Rehearsal xii, in J. Glastoniensis Chronica (1726) (modernized text) II. App. iv. 544 The extream pinch of all manner of want for meat, drink, fewel, cloath, &c.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 369 Necessities sharpe pinch . View more context for this quotation
1678 W. Temple Let. to Ld. Treasurer in Wks. (1731) II. 469 I am so tired out with this cruel Pinch of Business.
1715 J. Fergusson tr. Rom. Conduct in quashing Catiline's Conspiracy 118 And if it would be a severe Pinch upon them to have their Shops shut up for a little, how must they fare if they were burnt to Ashes?
1793 tr. F. Trenck Life of Baron Frederic Trenck IV. 423 The helpless destitute graybeard..feels the pinch of want, and languishes in penury.
1861 Times 22 Aug. 6/5 So much money having been spent... All classes felt the pinch.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 279 Those who were rendered keener by the pinch of hunger.
1961 Bible (New Eng.) Luke xv. 14 He had spent it all, when a severe famine fell upon that country and he began to feel the pinch.
1992 Indiamail 22 Sept. 20/1 I've yet to see a producer who doesn't feel the pinch when a film goes over budget.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > essential or central > upon which something depends
harrec1000
pina1538
key1559
pinch1581
axle-treec1600
axlea1634
fulcrum1668
keystone1722
pivot1748
turning-point1836
landmark1859
axis1860
linchpin1954
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 258 I come now to ye pynche of my true defence.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre ii. v. 49 The chief pinch of the cause lieth on the Patriarchs proof, that the lands..formerly belonged to his predecessours.
1672 J. Eachard Mr. Hobbs's State Nature Considered 151 Here's the pinch of the business.
1720 D. Waterland 8 Serm. Divinity of Christ Pref. 40 Here indeed lies the very Pinch of the Argument.
1795 T. Bradbury Myst. Godliness I. Pref. p. v In this part of my work, I was come to the main pinch of the question.
1846 G. Grote Hist. Greece II. ii. vi. 457 Those two attributes which form the real mark and pinch of Spartan legislation, viz., the military discipline and the rigorous private training.
1882 Times 7 Aug. 9/6 This is the pinch of the matter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > [noun] > slack
slake water1589
still water1626
slack1642
pinch-water1682
pinch1721
slack-water1769
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 36 And they were not at all made practicable to be shut near the time of high Water, to keep out the long slack at the last part of the Flood, and first pinch of the Ebb, which was very proper to have been done.
1770 R. Erskine Diss. Rivers & Tides 10 For it sinks before the Velocity upwards is lost; as may at any Time be seen in what the Watermen call the Pinch of the Tide.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §260 I took an opportunity at pinch of low water to view the works upon the rock.
10. A steep or difficult part of a road. Also: a steep hill. Now chiefly Australian and New Zealand.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [noun] > congested or difficult part
pinch1754
bottleneck1850
pinch point1868
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > inclined portion of road, etc. > steep or difficult part of road
pinch1754
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun] > steep
kip1775
pinch1848
spitskop1872
1754 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 63 Wagons may travel now with 1500 or 1800 weight on them, by doubling the teams at one or two pinches only.
1759 R. Jackson Hist. Rev. Pennsylvania 264 Making the Road thirty Feet wide, and the principal Pinches twenty.
1848 H. W. Haygarth Recoll. Bush Life Austral. xii. 126 As we approached the end of our journey we came to one or two ‘pinches’, which is the colonial term for steep hills.
1898 Longman's Mag. Nov. 51 Shepherd Robbins shambling slowly down the steep ‘pinch’ of road that led to the farm gate.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Aug. 162 The steep pinches and faces take their toll of injuries and deaths.
2003 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 9 May 51 Lapstone Hill at the end of the M4 western motorway is a steep pinch that has been a car challenge for generations.
III. Senses relating to the action or an act of pinching.† 15. English regional (East Anglian). A stingy or mean person. Obsolete. rare.
11. The action or an act of pinching; a nip, a squeeze; †a bite (obsolete). Also figurative: †hostile criticism, an adverse judgement (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > instance of > sharp
quippy1519
quip1532
snack?1554
gird1566
pincha1568
quib1656
hitc1668
snapper1817
shy1840
shot1841
swipe1892
jab1905
licks1971
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 11v So cruellie threatened, yea presentlie some tymes, with pinches, nippes, and bobbes, and other waies.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xliii. 275 Those generall pinches, which repining people do vse then most, when they are best vsed.
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood Satyre vi. sig. E6 He will neuer flinch, To giue a full quart pot the empty pinch.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. ii. 49 If we be English Deere, be then in blood, Not Rascall-like to fall downe with a pinch . View more context for this quotation
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 118 Mr. Neverout's Wit begins to run low, for I vow, he said this before: Pray, Colonel, give him a Pinch.
1799 Writing Desk ii. xii. 64 (stage direct.) Gives her a pinch on the cheek.
1836 I. Taylor Physical Theory of Another Life 238 Feeling the pinch of a tight shoe,..the pinch of a tight hat.
1878 H. James Europeans I. i. 3 She paused a moment, gave a pinch to her waist with her two hands.
1919 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Glow-worm i. 5 We used to talk of ‘tweaksies’ to express a slight squeeze of the finger-tips, something more like a tickling than a serious pinch.
2004 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 3 Apr. 32 He'd forgotten the other great thing about April Fool's Day—the flurry of pinches and punches for the first of the month.
12. An amount (chiefly of a powdered substance, esp. snuff) that may be taken up between a finger and thumb. Hence in extended use: a very small quantity. See also with a pinch of salt at salt n.1 2d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a very small amount
shredc1000
farthingsworthc1325
pennyworthc1330
incha1350
sliverc1374
chipa1393
gnastc1440
Jack1530
spoonful1531
crumba1535
spark1548
slight1549
pin's worth1562
scruple1574
thought1581
pinch1583
scrap1583
splinter1609
ticket1634
notchet1637
indivisible1644
tinyc1650
twopence1691
turn of the scale(s)1706
enough to swear by1756
touch1786
scrimptiona1825
infinitesimal1840
smidgen1841
snuff1842
fluxion1846
smitchel1856
eyelash1860
smidge1866
tenpenceworth1896
whisker1913
tidge1986
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > amount that fills part of body > hand > finger and thumb
pugil1576
pinch1583
fingerful1604
1583 R. Greene Mamillia i. f. 22 For a pince of pleasure we receiue a gallon of sorow.
1692 T. Southerne Wives Excuse iv. i. 37 Mine, Sir, is right Palillio, made of the Fibres, the Spirituous part of the Plant; there's not a pinch of it out of my Box in England.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Old Age Two Pinches of the Tops of Rosemary, a Pinch of Laurel Leaves, two Pinches of Hysop.
1799 R. Southey Nondescripts ii, in Poet. Wks. (1838) III. 61 Snuff..on the waistcoat black, brown dust, From the oft reiterated pinch profuse.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) v. 61 Rowe took a long pinch of snuff.
1882 G. MacDonald Castle Warlock (1883) xx. 122 It's a gurly nicht; no a pinch o' licht, an' the win' blawin' like deevils.
1950 R. Macaulay World my Wilderness xx. 143 He offered his snuff box to both gentlemen; Richie took a pinch, feeling like a man of the world.
1990 Independent 29 Sept. (Weekend section) 35/4 Tortelloni with stuffed pumpkin, flavoured with a pinch of ginger.
13. Chiefly Scottish. A pointed or hooked iron lever used for prising, moving heavy objects, breaking stones, etc.; a crowbar. Cf. pinch v. 18, pinchbar n. at pinch- comb. form .
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
1685 W. Clark Grand Tryal iii. xxviii. 236 And from the Chinks of every Rock, and Stone,..with Iron Pinch, He scrambles out his Ore.
1698 in A. W. C. Hallen Acct. Bk. Sir J. Foulis (1894) 229 Inventur of quarrell graith..2 gavelocks and a pinch, [etc.].
c1764 Sir A. Grant in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) II. 442 Needful tools, viz., spade, pick, wheel-barrow pinch, and hatchet.
1788 in Scots Mag. (1897) Jan. 153 To James Brown for carring [sic] the pinch to the mynd. 6d.
1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf ix, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 174 Pinches or forehammers will never pick upon't,..ye might as weel batter at it wi' pipe-stapples.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 187 Pinch, a kind of crowbar used in breaking down coal.
1931 R. Stevenson Bell Rock Lighthouse 28 The stones, in the present case, were raised with pinches.
1953 Fraserburgh Herald 26 May Mail and Pinch, Minor Hand and Fencing Tools.
1988 W. A. D. Riach Galloway Gloss. 32 Pinch, a crowbar for fencing, pointed at one end.
14. slang. A theft, esp. of a small amount of money or of an item that costs little (cf. sense 12); an act of stealing or plagiarism. Also: a stolen or plagiarized thing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > plagiarism > [noun] > instance of
plagiarya1643
pinch1757
plagiarism1780
crib1834
1757 London Chron. 15–17 Mar. 258/1 They have almost reduced Cheating to a Science; and have affixed technical Terms to each Species; three of which are the Pinch, the Turn, and the Mace.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Mem. (1964) 258 This game is called the pinch.
1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 152 An' neow duz than saiy thee aw' Foakstun ar baw tu leeiv mi on t'pinch lyke that?
1903 ‘J. Flynt’ Rise of Ruderick Clowd (1904) i. 66 One night..on his way home..Ruderick..took a ‘pinch’ too large.
1950 E. Partridge Dict. Underworld (at cited word) A small theft... Possibly it connotes ‘what can be stolen in one pinching motion of the fingers’.
1990 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Oct. The food list is a pinch from Level One... But the dishes are different enough to repel accusations of plagiarism.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [noun] > niggard or mean person
nithinga1225
chinch?a1300
nigc1300
chincher1333
shut-purse1340
niggardc1384
haynec1386
nigona1400
pinchera1425
pinchpenny?c1425
pynepenya1450
pelt1511
chincherda1529
churl1535
pinchbeck1538
carl?1542
penny-father1549
nipfarthing1566
nipper?1573
holdfast1576
pinchpence1577
pinch fistc1580
pinchfart1592
shit-sticks1598
clunchfist1606
puckfist1606
sharp-nose1611
spare-good1611
crib1622
hog grubber?1626
dry-fist1633
clusterfist1652
niggardling1654
frummer1659
scrat1699
sting-hum1699
nipcheese1785
pincha1825
screw1825
wire-drawer1828
close-fist1861
penny-pincher1875
nip-skin1876
parer1887
pinch-plum1892
cheapskate1899
meanie1902
tightwad1906
stinge1914
penny-peeler1925
mean1938
stiff1967
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) II. 254 Pinch, a very parsimonious economist.
16. English regional (northern). The game of pitch-and-toss. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > pitch and toss, etc. > [noun]
vanning1606
pitch-and-chuck1688
pitch-and-hustle1688
chuck-farthing1699
hustle-cap1709
chuck1711
pitch-and-toss1721
pitch-farthing1737
pitch1745
chock1819
pinch1828
pitch-penny1830
chuck-hole1837
chuck-halfpenny1838
toss-halfpenny1848
three-up1851
chuck-button1863
toss-penny1874
toss and catch1904
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Pinch, the game of pitch-halfpenny or pitch and hustle. It is played by two or more antagonists.
1862 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds & Neighbourhood at Mot In the game of quoits..a ‘mot’ is set up..which serves as the thrower's goal. It consists, in the game of ‘pinch’, of some small object, generally a copper placed upon the head of a nail.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield (at cited word) Some colliers were lately fined..for playing at pinch on Sunday.
17. slang. A thing which is easy to accomplish or attain; a certainty, a cinch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun] > that which is easy
ball play?c1225
child's gamec1380
boys' play1538
walkover1861
picnic1870
pudding1884
cakewalk1886
pie1886
cinch1888
snipa1890
pushover1891
pinch1897
sitter1898
pipe1902
five-finger exercise1903
duck soup1912
pud1917
breeze1928
kid stuff1929
soda1930
piece of cake1936
doddle1937
snack1941
stroll1942
piece of piss1949
waltz1968
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > certain prospect or possession > [noun] > something easily done or acquired
sure card?1562
sure thing1836
open-and-shut1841
cinch1888
cert1889
snipa1890
pinch1897
lead-pipe1898
sitter1898
stone ginger1936
slam dunk1984
1897 A. R. Marshall ‘Pomes’ from Pink 'Un 50 The race would be a pinch, sir, barring accident or spill.
1899 ‘G. G.’ Winkles vi. 72 Harkaway for the Scurry Handicap at Landown, good, a ‘pinch’; go nap on it!
1903 A. M. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise xii. 280 Sustained by the conviction that he had made his match a ‘pinch’ indeed.
2001 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 7 Aug. 47 The unmarked Young missing an absolute pinch when he headed past an open goal from only six yards out.
18. North American and Australian slang. An arrest, a charge; (occasionally) imprisonment.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [noun]
attachmenta1325
arresting1424
arrest1440
arrestment1474
restc1500
attach1508
attaching1515
deprehension1527
prehension1534
apprehending1563
apprehension1577
cog-shoulder1604
caption1609
deprension1654
nap1655
arrestation1792
body-snatching1840
shoulder-tap1842
collar1865
fall1883
nicking1883
cop1886
pinch1900
pickup1908
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [noun] > custody
arrestc1386
custodyc1503
detaininga1535
detention?1570
detainment1586
detain1596
detainer1640
detainal1806
pinch1900
deportation1909
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > [noun] > a charge, accusation, or allegation > criminal charge
ditty1634
pinch1900
rap1903
1900 ‘J. Flynt’ & ‘F. Walton’ Powers that Prey 81 Told me to tell you't he'd have to make a pinch if you give the wheel another turn.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands viii. 101 Ther Elder was back in er hour, 'n' had me outer pinch ez quick ez could be.
1960 ‘H. Carmichael’ Seeds of Hate xix. 164 Before I make a pinch I like to be reasonably sure that the charge will stick.
1990 C. L. Vincent Police Officer ii. iii. 38 The patrolman who cuts off a colleague by driving over a sidewalk and through a stop sign to make a pinch.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pinchv.
/pɪn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /pɪn(t)ʃ/α. Middle English ipinchnid (past participle, transmission error), Middle English picched (past tense, transmission error), Middle English pinnche, Middle English prinche (transmission error), Middle English–1500s pynche, Middle English–1600s pinche, 1500s pench, 1500s penche, 1500s pynsh, 1500s pyntch, 1500s pyntche, 1500s–1600s pintch, 1500s–1600s pynch, 1500s– pinch; Scottish pre-1700 pinsche, pre-1700 pinsh, pre-1700 1700s– pinch, pre-1700 1900s– punch.
β. 1500s pinse, 1500s–1700s (1800s Scottish) pince.
I. Senses relating to constricting or nipping with or as with the fingers.† 3. intransitive and transitive. Of an animal, esp. a dog: to attack or seize (prey, etc.) with the teeth or jaws; to bite; to nip with the teeth. Obsolete.† 4. transitive. To torment, torture; to inflict bodily pain on. Obsolete.† 9. transitive. To put in or add by pinches (pinch n. 12). Obsolete. rare.
1.
a. transitive. To grip or compress (something) tightly and sharply; to nip, squeeze; spec. to grip or squeeze the skin of (a person or part of the body) sharply between the tips of a finger and thumb. In early use: †to pluck (an eyebrow) (obsolete rare). Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press or squeeze [verb (transitive)] > nip or pinch
twingec1000
pinchc1230
pranglec1300
nip1381
nipe1440
hinch1590
nipskin1620
pincer1864
tweezer1911
α.
β. 1799 Monthly Mag. Feb. 139/1 That blacksmith, Who on his wall had drawn the arch-devil's picture, And us'd to pince at it with glowing tongs.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 103 Her to falleð..heowin her. litien leor. pinchen bruhen [a1400 Pepys browes whinering] oðer bencin ham uppart wið wete fingres.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 751 Bochours ben þei echon ȝour body to dismembre, And everich pinchen his part.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 817 (MED) Brechelees beerys be betyn on the bare; Houndys for favour wyl nat spare To pynche his pylche with greet noyse and soun.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 657/2 I pynche a thynge with my fyngar and my thombe.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xliii. 275 To pinch the heele where they pricke at the head.
a1628 J. Preston Saints Daily Exercise (1629) 119 A swine that is pinched..will cry exceeding loud.
1676 C. Cotton Compl. Angler v. 40 Where the warping ends, pinch or nip it with your thumb nail against your finger, and strip away the remainder of your dubbing from the silk.
1712 J. Arbuthnot App. to John Bull Still in Senses i. 7 He would pinch the Children..so hard, that he left the Print of his Forefingers and his Thumb in black and blue.
1745 J. Swift Direct. to Servants 67 Contrive that the Saddle may pinch the Beast in his Withers.
1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 44 The creature was scarcely able to withdraw its legs when the toes were pinched.
1856 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. (ed. 3) I. iv. 115 If the legs be pinched..the muscles are made to contract.
1949 V. S. Reid New Day i. xii. 66 Pinch his top with your front teeth, making a little hole.
1995 Independent 29 Apr. 12/1 Larry was a bottom-pincher. He came from a generation of gentlemen who did pinch bottoms.
b. transitive. To bring into a specified state, condition, or position by squeezing, pushing, pressing, or nipping.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)] > compress or constrict
thrumc1275
constrainc1374
nip1381
rinea1398
compress1398
withstrainc1400
coarctc1420
pincha1425
strain1426
nipe1440
thrumble1513
comprime?1541
astrict1548
sneap1598
cling1601
wring1603
constringe1609
coarctate1620
compinge1621
choke1635
compel1657
cramp1673
hunch1738
constrict1759
tighten1853
scrunch1861
throttle1863
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press or squeeze [verb (transitive)] > nip or pinch > into some state or condition
pincha1425
society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)] > pinch
tanacle1598
pinch1687
to pinch off1766
a1425 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1960) A. ix. l. 88 [c1400 Trin. Cambr. Dobest is aboue hem boþe & beriþ a bisshopis croce; Is hokid at þat on ende to holde men in good lif. A pik is in þat potent to] pynche [Trin Cambr. continues pungen adoun þe wykkide].
a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald (1977) 70 Wyȝt werke-men..Putten prises þerto, pinchid one vnder.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 241/1 Let them keepe straite, and pinch in their shoulders.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) ii. ii. 195 They'll sucke our breath, or pinch vs blacke and blew.
1645 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Bad Times ii. iv. 76 Pinch me into the Remembrance of my promises.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 106 The ordinary Rack..is for men to pinch off the Flesh with hot Pinsers.
1762 T. Smollett Adventures Sir Launcelot Greaves II. xv. 61 Mai hoole carcase is drilled into oilet hools, and my flesh pinched into a jelly.
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) I. i. 28 Pinch their ends close.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 676 The skin cannot now be pinched up.
1960 H. Lee To kill Mockingbird (1963) ii. xiii. 132 She chose protective garments that drew up her bosom to giddy heights, pinched in her waist, flared out her rear.
1982 A. F. Wallace Progress Plastic Surg. xix. 163 The outlined strip of skin was pinched into a fold.
c. transitive (reflexive). To give oneself a pinch with the fingers, esp. in order to wake oneself from a dream, or to establish whether one is truly awake or alive. Also figurative: to take a moment to convince oneself that something (usually good or pleasurable) is real.
ΚΠ
1833 G. Almar Knights St. John ii. iii. 31 Me don't tink I'm dead; let me pinch myself.
1844 R. W. Emerson Ess. 2nd Ser. viii. 259 I wish to speak with all respect of persons, but sometimes I must pinch myself to keep awake, and preserve the due decorum.
1913 E. Wharton Let. 23 Mar. (1988) 289 All is still vague, as things were settled only the day before yesterday, & I'm still pinching myself.
1960 W. Harris Palace of Peacock vi. 53 I knew that if I was dreaming I could pinch myself and wake.
1986 Times 20 May 40 One of the offers from Britain was so good I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real.
2. To give or receive a pinched appearance. † d. intransitive. Archery. Of a bow: to receive a pinch. Cf. pinch n. 2. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To pleat, gather, or flute, (a garment, etc.). Cf. pinch n. 1a, pinch pleat n. Now rare and historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > folding or folded condition > fold [verb (transitive)] > arrange in folds or pleat
cremil1377
pinchc1387
pleatc1390
plaitc1400
plighta1425
ridelc1450
pranka1529
plat?1533
surfle1573
quill1607
twill1847
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 151 Ful semely hir wympel pynched was.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 30 Ȝif his goune be pynchit gay, He getis a salary.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 410 So wyde a gowne..as is þin, So smal I-pynchid.
c1525 Rule St. Francis (Faust.) in J. S. Brewer & R. Howlett Monumenta Franciscana (1858) I. 576 And the brethern may haue mantellis of vyle and course clothe, not curiusly made or pynched aboute the necke.
1676 Sports & Pastimes 38 Pinch it [sc. the sheet of paper] a quarter of an inch deep, in the manner as you pinch a paper Lanthorn, that is in pleats like a ruff.
1771 Pennsylvania Gaz. 25 July She performs clear-starching in the best manner;..Dresden and sprigged work raised, and baby linen pinched.
1799 J. Strutt Compl. View Dress & Habits People of Eng. II. v. 283 She is represented as a mightly precise dame, with her wimple neatly pinched, or plaited.
1991–2 City & Country Home Winter 38/3 By the 1600s, ‘pinching’ the napkins or, in modern terms, folding them into elaborate shapes and figures, had become an art form discussed in instruction manuals.
b. transitive. To crimp or coil (hair), esp. by using heated tongs or irons. Now rare and historical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > curl
crispc1340
crook1340
pincha1398
curl1447
frouncea1529
creis1553
frizzle1565
thrum1598
becurl1614
calamistrate1628
frizz1660
fruz1702
crimp1708
buckle1721
befriz1772
crape1774
crêpe1818
crinkle1871
permanently wave1901
marcel1906
water-wave1912
permanent wave1921
permanent1924
perm1928
tong1932
scrunch1983
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 66v Men þat wonen in hote cuntre & drye haue hard heer & crisp..for by hete þer is I-bent & I-ryueled & I-pinchid.
a1425 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (Pierpont Morgan) f. 74 Suche a wyf is worþi to be preysid þat fondeþ more to plese here husbonde with heer homly wounde þan with heer gayly pinchid..& wrollid.
?1780 W. Moore Art of Hair-dressing 1 Many love to see the Hair lay long down the Back, comb'd in Curls; to do which are obliged to pinch it with hot Irons.
1795 A. Stewart Nat. Production of Hair 7 Heat will force straight lank Hairs into curl, to any heighth [sic] you please to roll and pinch, or curl it.
1815 R. Fenton Mem. Old Wig 9 Having undergone the varied ordeal of papering, pinching, crimping, baking, and torture a thousand ways, I was promoted to thatch the cranium of the notorious judge Jefferies.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. iii. 41 Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo undertook to pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs.
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 108/1 Papering, 18th cent. term for placing the paper papillotes around the wound hair preparatory to pinching it with hot pinching irons.
c. transitive. Cookery. To compress the edge of (a piece of pastry) between the fingers; to seal (a piecrust) by pinching or fluting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparing pastry, biscuits, or cake > prepare pastry, biscuits, or cake [verb (transitive)] > crimp edge of pie-crust
pincha1425
a1425 (a1399) Forme of Cury (BL Add.) 116 in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 124 Þenne make of þat ooþer deel of þat past long coffyns, & do þat comade þerin, and close hem faire with a couertour, & pynche hem smale aboute.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 41 (MED) Make a fole of doghe..Kover hit with lyddes, and pynche hit fayre.
1702 J. K. tr. F. Massialot Court & Country Cook 115 Having put it into the Pie-pan, let the Sides be neatly pinch'd..and prickt with the point of a knife, to hinder them from puffing.
1781 G. Dalrymple Pract. Mod. Cookery 342 Make a good puff-paste, roll it in two sheets..pinch them together.
1861 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 22/2 Cover with paste, pinch it well together about the edges, but leave an opening in the center for the steam to escape.
1926 Iowa City Press-Citizen 18 Feb. Pinch the crust at the top.
1992 Dogs Today Dec. 13/2 Chop the sausages in half and place lengthways on the strips of pastry. Roll up and pinch to form a cracker.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > archery > practise archery [verb (intransitive)] > receive pinch
pinch1545
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 7 Take your bow in to the feeld,..looke where he commethe moost, prouyde for that place betymes, leste it pinche and so freate.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 10 Pike the places about the pinches, to make them somewhat weker, and as well commynge as where it pinched.
1634 G. Markham Art of Archerie vii. 58 First, take your Bow into the Field.., looke where it commeth most and prouide for that place betimes, before it pinch and so fret.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > be niggardly or mean [verb (intransitive)]
spare1377
to lick one's knifec1400
chincha1425
pincha1425
stick1533
nig1559
to make pottage of a flintc1576
niggard1596
wretcha1598
niggardize1606
wire-draw1616
screw1820
skincha1825
scrimp1848
stinge1937
to pinch pennies (also a penny)1942
penny-pinch1945
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > biting > bite [verb (transitive)]
britOE
biteOE
forbitec1275
to-bite1375
hancha1400
pincha1425
savage1838
maul1848
bebite1880
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) 120 Who pyncheth firste and goth þerwith to þe deth, he shall haue þe skynne.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxviii. 217 You shall do well to mingle mastifes amongst your houndes: for they will pinch the Beare, and make hir angrie.
1599 First Bk. Preseruation Henry VII l. 392 An Hart in a chace, that is hurt or pincht with a greyhound.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads v. 462 Like a sort of dogs that at a lion bay, And entertain no spirit to pinch.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) ii. i. 16 As a Beare encompass'd round with Dogges: Who hauing pincht a few, and made them cry, The rest stand all aloofe. View more context for this quotation
?c1640 W. Rowley et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) iv. i. 43 Savy. Did not I charge thee, To pinch that Quean to th'heart? Dog. Bough wough wough.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Theodore & Honoria in Fables 261 Two Mastiffs..came up and pinch'd her tender Side.
1788 J. Barry Coal-Heaver's Cousin rescued from Bats i. 31 The boar feeling the dog pinch him, he turns furiously about to the dog.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)]
bethrowOE
tintreghec1175
tormentc1290
pinse?c1335
anguisha1425
pincha1425
to put to (the) torture1551
agonize1570
torture1594
scorchc1595
flay1782
a1425 Vision of St. Paul (BL Add.) in Englische Studien (1896) 22 135 (MED) Ferþer more Poul sawe a fornais al brennyng, in þe whiche soules were ipynched wiþ seuen manere of peynes.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 1107 (MED) To wo þat is wers wenden ȝe schulle, Whanne ȝe parten fro þis paine þat pinncheþ ȝou here.
1536 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) II. 30 Not sparing for the knowleage hereof to pynche him with paynes to the declaracion of it.
1597 J. Tanner Serm. Paules Crosse (new ed.) 11 Which pincheth man with three great wounds.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 468 If it [sc. a dart] pinch them further, and draw blood, they increase their punishment.
5.
a. transitive. Of an item of clothing: to constrict (the body or a part of the body) painfully.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > pinch > specifically of footwear
wringc1449
pinch1574
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [verb (intransitive)] > fit tightly
sitc1225
spen13..
pinch1693
felter1768
to fit like wax1859
1574 J. Baret Aluearie P 347 My shooe hurteth or pincheth my foote.
1637 T. Heywood Dial. ii, in Wks. (1874) VI. 121 When you pull on your shoo you best may tel In what part it doth chiefely pinch you.
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. §12. 11 Narrow Breasts..ill Lungs, and Crookedness, are the..Effects of hard Bodice, and Cloths that pinch.
c1720 M. Prior Phillis's Age ii Stiff in brocade, and pinch'd in stays.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. at Fake If a man's shoe happens to pinch or gall his foot, he will complain that his shoe fakes his foot sadly.
1850 R. W. Emerson Montaigne in Representative Men iv. 166 I..think an undress, and old shoes that do not pinch my feet..the most suitable.
1938 D. Runyon Take it Easy i. 20 These shoes are commencing to pinch his puppies quite some.
1993 Canad. Living May 154 (advt.) I refuse to worry about slipping straps, underwires that pinch.
b. transitive. where the shoe pinches and variants: where (a person's) difficulty or trouble is; where the heart of a problem or most afflicting part of a situation lies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > [noun] > a disadvantage
damage1398
disadvantagec1425
afterdeal1481
disprofit?1555
where the shoe pinches?a1580
drawbacka1640
negative1702
take-off1797
letdown1840
disamenity1864
handicap1872
back-draw1883
disbenefit1968
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 21 If you see my shoe new and well shaped, yet doe you not knowe where it pincheth my foote. Euen so, though I looke merily, you know not (alas to my paine) where my griefe is.]
?a1580 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 85 Subtle enemyes, that knowe..where the shooe pinchith us most.
1659 M. Poole Quo Warranto v. 50 And because here the shoe pincheth, our Brethren make a strong attempt against this assertion.
1721 C. Cibber Refusal v. 67 Ay, ay; there the Shoe pinches.
1779 C. Dibdin Chelsea Pensioner i. 15 Why, to be sure, nobody knows where the shoe pinches so well as them that wears it.
1856 C. Reade It is never too Late III. iii. 28 Oh, is that where the shoe pinches?
1890 W. E. Norris Misadventure xlviii Only after the deed has been done does the shoe really begin to pinch.
1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim vi. 67 ‘I ain't so far gone as to put up with the sight of you sitting in Captain Brierly's chair.’.. ‘You would like to sit in it yourself—that's where the shoe pinches.’
1971 Times 11 June 15/7 It has not proved unduly difficult to raise large sums for cathedrals... It is at the humbler and less dramatic parochial level that the shoe pinches.
2003 Times (Nexis) 25 June Governments do not set out to deny the least privileged their rights, but they act where the shoe pinches.
6. to pinch off.
a. transitive. To remove by gripping with the fingers and pulling; (Horticulture) to remove with the fingers to encourage growth or flowering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > pinch out or off
cropc1420
to pinch off1654
pinch1693
stop1699
strangulate1835
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > detach [verb (transitive)] > detach in other specific manner
unnaila1400
to pull offa1425
nipc1450
unlink1569
unhook1611
unhinge1616
unsling1630
to pinch off1654
untack1693
unstring1697
peel1787
unbolt1793
unthong1829
unswing1835
unshackle1840
unsnap1862
unbraze1898
delink1899
society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)] > pinch
tanacle1598
pinch1687
to pinch off1766
1654 T. Barker Country-mans Recreation 80 If ye pinch it off hard by the stalk of your Grape, your fruit shall be the greater.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ vii. 115 Those [Graffs] you finde to shoot up in one lance, pinch off their tender tops.
1710 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (1719) 152 The same course of pinching off End-Buds is very profitable in Summer also.
1764 Museum Rusticum IV. 18 I pinch off with my nail such branches as accompany the fruit, to the thickness of about two crown-pieces.
1766 T. Amory Life John Buncle II. xiii. 498 You shall be a catholic, damn you, or I'll pinch off the flesh from your bones.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 117 Leading points in growing frame cucumbers are, to pinch off the shoot..to keep the frame clear of useless vine.
1925 W. Cather Professor's House i. ix. 109 He pinched off his driving-glove between his knees and snuggled his hand over hers.
1939 C. Gaige N.Y. World's Fair Cook Bk. 115 Mix very stiff with flour. Pinch off a piece about the size of a walnut, roll out very thin.
1986 A. Stoddard Living Beautiful Life (1988) ii. 42 Part of my daily puttering ritual is to renew the water in the vases, pinch off sad blossoms and cut down the stems.
b. transitive. To constrict at a particular point until separation into two parts occurs; to produce or isolate in this way. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
1862 Proc. Royal Soc. 1860–62 11 120 It appeared to be that the projecting parts gradually became pinched off from the main portion, and thus formed certain irregularly rounded bodies.
1910 Jrnl. Morphol. 21 278 Various phases are shown in the process of pinching off portions of the cytoplasm of the thrombocytes to form blood platelet-like corpuscles.
1952 Proc. IRE 40 1367/1 It is the voltage that will reduce the channel to zero and pinch off the conducting path.
1956 Ess. in Crit. 6 10 Science begins to appear in the odd role of being pinched off and occupying the lonely end of a polar opposition to religion.
1996 European Jrnl. Protistol. 32 171 The closure of the nuclear envelope around the daughter nuclei pinches off a membrane tube.
c. intransitive. Chiefly Science. To split off (from) as a result of a localized constriction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > become detached [verb (intransitive)] > become detached in other specific manner
unglue1693
patch1848
to pull away1858
to pinch off1910
abscind1963
1910 Jrnl. Morphol. 21 278 (caption) Megakaryocyte showing a platelet in process of pinching off from a pseudopod.
1987 Sci. Amer. Dec. 46/2 The coated pit..pinches off in the cytoplasm as a little balloon of membrane called a coated vesicle.
1990 R. Morris Edges of Sci. iii. ix. 178 A newly created universe..that was created in our universe might ‘pinch off’ from our spacetime and disappear.
2002 Celluluar & Molecular Life Sci. 59 1166 The nascent particle forces the plasma membrane to form a bud, which pinches off releasing the virion particle from the cell.
d. intransitive. Chiefly Science. To undergo a localized constriction to the point of separation or closure.
ΚΠ
1959 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 38 777 If sufficiently high voltage is applied, the channel will ‘pinch off’ and its current will essentially saturate.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) X. 233/1 The pressure at a narrow neck in the ring of fused metal is able to squeeze out the fluid metal until the neck pinches off completely, cutting off the current.
1974 J. B. Finean et al. Membranes & Cellular Functions iv. 69 A fat droplet becomes closely surrounded by a part of the plasma membrane of the secreting cell and then the bridge between the particle and the cell pinches off.
2001 Physical Rev. E. 64 061904 The instability of a collapsing cylinder is composed of two distinct stages... Ultimately, one point on the cylinder pinches off.
7. transitive. Horticulture. To remove or shorten (a bud, leaf, shoot, etc.), by nipping it off with the fingers; to prune or thin out (a branch, etc.) by pinching. Now usually with an adverb, esp. back, out. Cf. also sense 6b, pinching n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > pinch out or off
cropc1420
to pinch off1654
pinch1693
stop1699
strangulate1835
1599 R. Gardiner Profitable Instr. Kitchin Gardens sig. C3v When the beanes be faire blowed fiue or six ioynts of them, then you were best to pinch off about a handfull, or a span of the toppes of them with your hand, or cut them away, but they will more easier and sooner be pinched then cut.]
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. i. iii. 10 When the Branch so Pinch'd proves obstinate in shooting thick again, the same Operation of Pinching must be perform'd again.
1706 tr. F. Gentil Le Jardinier Solitaire iii. sig. F3v There's nothing to be done..but to Pinch that Branch several times: this easie Operation, which is perform'd with the Fingers, will put a Stop to the Sap.
1786 J. Abercrombie Gardeners Daily Assistant 175 Occasionally pinch or prune down strong shoots to four or five eyes.
1850 Beck's Florist May 129 When the shoots have grown three or four inches..I again pinch out their tops, in order to make them bushy.
1890 Farmer's Gaz. 4 Jan. 7/1 When [the shoots]..are three or four inches long they are pinched back to three buds.
1984 Gardening from Which? Sept. 311 Pinching back the growing tips will also encourage the plants to bush out.
1994 Amateur Gardening 30 July 11/3 Pinch out tomatoes at two leaves beyond the top truss when four or five trusses have formed.
8. transitive (in passive). To be jammed, crushed, or trapped between two objects. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > press, squeeze, or pinch [verb (intransitive)] > be pressed or pinched
squeeze1683
pinch1700
1700 W. Davis Jesus Crucifyed Man 134 Here they are pinched between the Door and the Hinges, and which way they will make their escape I cannot tell.
1764 Blackwell's Mem. Court Augustus (ed. 3) II. 158 Brutus was pinched between Humanity and the necessity of Affairs, and fell upon this Temper to reconcile them.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 4 Aug. 5/1 We have lost our walrus boat... She was pinched on shore in the land water on July 16,..by the heavy pack ice.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 29 Mar. 5/3 The chap that had it before me got pinched between the coupling hooks..he only lived a few hours.
1978 Aviation Week & Space Technol. (Nexis) 25 Sept. 19 A wire on the missile..was pinched between the shroud and the booster, preventing a detonation command from reaching a primer-like explosive.
2003 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 12 Jan. 14 A 55-year-old woman was rushed to St. Mike's Hospital yesterday afternoon with ‘a severe leg injury’ after she was pinched between two cars.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > by pinches
pinch1859
1859 Ld. Tennyson Vivien in Idylls of King 125 Pinch a murderous dust into her drink.
II. Non-physical and other figurative senses.† 11. † 16. intransitive. Of the tide: to pass its highest or lowest level. Cf. pinch n. 9 and pinch-water n. at pinch- comb. form . Obsolete. rare.† 17. transitive. Horse Racing. To urge on or press (a horse), frequently to a state of exhaustion; (also) to urge on by the use of spurs. Obsolete.
10. † c. intransitive. To be impoverished or in financial straits; to suffer penury. Obsolete.† e. intransitive to pinch on the parson's (also priest's) side: to withhold tithes or alms. Also to pinch someone on the parson's side: to deprive (a person) of something he or she should rightfully have. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To give or spend very sparingly; to economize rigorously; to be mean or parsimonious.In quot. ?c1335: to give short weight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (intransitive)] > go beyond a point or limit > encroach physically
pinchc1330
overreachc1400
encroachc1534
croche1592
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) 1109 Þat on was..Lef to ȝiue and lef to spende; And þat oþer lef to pinche, Boþe he was scars and chinche.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 157 Hail be ȝe bakers witþ ȝur louis smale..Ȝe pincheþ on þe riȝt white aȝens g[o]ddes law.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 2621 (MED) Þus of good ay þe fyn is wo, Namly, of hem þat so pynche & spare For..Þe frute of good is to spende large.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 657/2 He pyncheth as though he were nat worthe a grote.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 3 Ane hes that micht ane hundreith weill susteine and livis in vo and pinschis at his tabill.
a1617 S. Hieron Wks. (1620) I. 217 They pinch with the Lord, as Ananias.
1671 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue IV. xx. 285 And as he pinched, and scraped together from others, so his wife did from him.
1798 G. Thompson Sentimental Tour 233 Himself and a kind Mother pinch and scrape for me:—and shall not I my ev'ry hour employ?
1872 J. C. Sylvis Life W. H. Sylvis 218 All the economy they can practise, pinch and stint as they may, cannot secure them the comforts of life.
1899 H. James Awkward Age vi. xxiii. 272 We have to..provide and pinch, to meet all the necessities, with money, money, money, at every turn, running away like water.
1954 E. Taylor Hester Lilly 23 The money goes... We did have to pinch and scrape, and aunts fastened to us, like barnacles on a wreck.
1980 L. Auchincloss House of Prophet iii. 29 And then I remembered how Mama had worked for me and pinched and scraped for me, and of course I could not let her down.
b. transitive. To limit or restrict the supply of (money, bounty, etc.); to stint; to give (something) sparingly or grudgingly. Now British regional, except in to pinch pennies (also a penny): to be penny-pinching or parsimonious (cf. pinchpenny adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > be niggardly of [verb (transitive)]
pinch?1529
to make dainty of (anything)1555
scant1573
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > be niggardly or mean [verb (intransitive)]
spare1377
to lick one's knifec1400
chincha1425
pincha1425
stick1533
nig1559
to make pottage of a flintc1576
niggard1596
wretcha1598
niggardize1606
wire-draw1616
screw1820
skincha1825
scrimp1848
stinge1937
to pinch pennies (also a penny)1942
penny-pinch1945
?1529 Proper Dyaloge Gentillman & Husbandman sig. C viij v Lett him ones begynne to pynche Or to withdrawe their tithinge an ynche.
1596 Bp. W. Barlow tr. L. Lavater Three Christian Serm. ii. 78 Couetouslie pinching their Tables and almes.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xiii. 305 If ever she affordeth fine ware, she alwayes pincheth it in the measure.
1695 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 320 They are not to pinch the water from the faw-well.
1897 New Eng. Mag. Sept. 52/2 He does not pinch a penny so hard as some of other races are said to do, but he pinches a dollar harder, and is quite as unlovely as any.
1906 N.E.D. (at cited word) Ye needna hae pincht the water; it's cheap aneuch ony way. Dinna pinch the elbow-grease.
1942 E. Paul Narrow Street xix. 152 The surly Monsieur Salmon..complaining and pinching pennies as he made his purchases.
1991 Newsweek 20 May 29/3 He had ample cause to pinch pennies: with eight children, and with mortgage payments, real-estate taxes and college bills totalling $90,000 a year.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > be poor [verb (intransitive)]
to have needOE
needa1300
to have mistera1400
to be low in the world1521
lack1523
pinch1549
to be beforehand (also behindhand) in (or with) the world1615
to feel the pinch1861
to feel the draught1925
1549 J. Cheke Hurt of Sedicion sig. D7 When ye se decaye of vitailes, the ryche pinche, the poore famishe.
1634 T. Heywood Maidenhead Lost ii. i, in Wks. (1874) IV. 121 I told you, you were so prodigall we should pinch for't.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 184 I'm forc'd to pinch, for the Times are hard.
1769 True Hist. Scheme for Seminary 13 Let them alone to pinch a little, and see their Folly, like the prodigal Son, by suffering for it.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 11/2 Made merry..the whole week through, to pinch for it a fortnight after.
d. transitive. To restrict or stint (a person, oneself, etc.), esp. in, or in respect of or for (a thing).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > be niggardly of [verb (transitive)] > treat in niggardly manner
princhea1393
pinch1557
scantle1581
scant1607
shavea1610
niggarda1616
churl1696
nickel-and-dime1913
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. C.iiv Pinche weannels at no time, of water nor meate.
1592 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage (new ed.) sig. E4 She cald in her neighbors..that..had also been pincht in their coles, and shewed them the cosenage.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 121 Either pinch them of a great part, or give them that which is nastie.
1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 10 You are pinched for room.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. i. viii. 25 Was I not pinched in Time, the regular way would be to have begun with the Circumstantials of Religion.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. vii. 57 My wife..insisted on entertaining them all; for which..the family was pinched for three weeks after.
1819 J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1857) I. 227 The price may pinch me for cash to set me home.
1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan i. ii. 211 Some debts..he had to pay, Which pinched us for a while.
1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy (1958) ii. 44 If the family is suddenly hard-up, then it is usually the mother who goes short, who ‘pinches herself’ on food or clothes.
2003 USA Today (Nexis) 3 July 4 c Most teams are pinched for money, so teams will likely have to pay to unload their superstar, big-money contracts.
ΚΠ
?1529 Proper Dyaloge Gentillman & Husbandman sig. Cviiv Let him ones begynne to pynche or to withdrawe their tithinge an ynche, For an heretike they will him ascite.]
1576 U. Fulwell Ars Adulandi sig. M3v Mas parson sumtimes serues, a Capon or some such: Pinch on the parsons side my Lorde, the whorsons haue to much.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 28 Lucilla..shaped hym an aunswere whiche pleased Ferardo but a little, and pinched Philautus on the parsons side on thys manner.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall 23 I am sure I shall not be pinchd on the parsons side.
1613 T. Adams Heauen & Earth Reconcil'd sig. F3 This is a common slander, when the Hel-hound (the couetous wretch) pincheth on the Priestes side: No matter, let him talke for his liuing.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew (at cited word) To pinch on the parson's side, or sharp him of his tithes.
a. intransitive. With at. To carp or cavil; to find fault, take exception; to quibble with. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (intransitive)] > captiously
apeluchier1340
pinchc1387
pick-fault1544
carp1548
cavil1548
snag1554
nibblea1591
catch1628
momize1654
niggle1796
nag1828
to pick on ——1864
snark1882
knock1892
nitpick1962
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 326 Ther koude no wight pynchen at his writyng.
?1406 T. Hoccleve La Mâle Règle 181 in E. P. Hammond Eng. Verse between Chaucer & Surrey (1927) 62/2 I pynchid nat at hem in myn acate, But paied hem as þat they axe wolde.
c1475 (c1450) P. Idley Instr. to his Son (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. 2535 (MED) If ony pynche at hir outrage Or hem rebuke of his fals condicion, They woll answere with froward langage.
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 5th Serm. sig. Pviiiv Euery waie thys offyce of preachynge, is pyncht at.
1581 J. Fielde Richard Liuely in Caueat for Parsons Howlet You and your sect of stifnecked Papistes, that pinch at Magistrates, while you exempt your selues from lawfull obedience.
1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man 58 When their Inquisition is suppressed, then let them pinch at this Oath, and our Stautes.
b. transitive. To find fault with, blame, or criticize. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)]
reprehendc1400
murmur1424
discommenda1500
belack1531
to find fault (with, at)c1540
scan?c1550
fault1563
pinch1567
to lift or move a lip1579
raign1581
reflect1605
criminate1645
criticize1652
nick1668
critic1697
chop1712
stricture1851
to get on to ——1895
chip1898
rap1899
nitpick1956
1567 T. Drant in tr. Horace Arte of Poetrie sig. H.viiiv A Satyre is a tarte, and carping kinde of verse, An instrument to pynche the prankes of men.
1570 T. Norton tr. A. Nowell Catechisme f. 78 So he..blott them [not] with stayne or infamie, but pinch them and reproue them onely with suspicion of their owne conscience.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iv. xiii. 203 The Corinthians he pincheth with this demaund.
12. figurative.
a. transitive. To afflict, trouble, distress, or harass (a person, heart, etc.), as though by a pinch.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > harass [verb (transitive)]
tawc893
ermec897
swencheOE
besetOE
bestandc1000
teenOE
baitc1175
grieve?c1225
war?c1225
noyc1300
pursuec1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
tribula1325
worka1325
to hold wakenc1330
chase1340
twistc1374
wrap1380
cumbera1400
harrya1400
vexc1410
encumber1413
inquiet1413
molest?a1425
course1466
persecutec1475
trouble1489
sturt1513
hare1523
hag1525
hale1530
exercise1531
to grate on or upon1532
to hold or keep waking1533
infest1533
scourge1540
molestate1543
pinch1548
trounce1551
to shake upa1556
tire1558
moila1560
pester1566
importune1578
hunt1583
moider1587
bebait1589
commacerate1596
bepester1600
ferret1600
harsell1603
hurry1611
gall1614
betoil1622
weary1633
tribulatea1637
harass1656
dun1659
overharry1665
worry1671
haul1678
to plague the life out of1746
badger1782
hatchel1800
worry1811
bedevil1823
devil1823
victimize1830
frab1848
mither1848
to pester the life out of1848
haik1855
beplague1870
chevy1872
obsede1876
to get on ——1880
to load up with1880
tail-twist1898
hassle1901
heckle1920
snooter1923
hassle1945
to breathe down (the back of) (someone's) neck1946
to bust (a person's) chops1953
noodge1960
monster1967
α.
β. 1630 M. Godwin tr. F. Godwin Ann. Eng. i. 48 Need began at length to pince him.a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 39 Þe superfluyte of fumosite þat comeþ of þe wyn comeþ to þe brayn & pinchiþ & prickeþ it & makeþ þe heed haue wel euele passiouns.
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) v. xxxviii. 153 Yf the mete pytchyth and pryckyth, the stomake is pynchyd and prycked and compellyth it to passe out.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xiv. 127 To the ende they myght bee worse pynched at the herte roote.
1577 tr. ‘F. de L'Isle’ Legendarie sig. Hij The proposition of the lord Bretagne..did chiefly pinch them.
1664 H. More Apol. in Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity 515 That no consciencious man may be pinched thereby.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 238 The King finding his Affairs pinch him at home.
1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini i. xii. 62 His compact with me pinches The Emperor.
1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles II. ix. 99 Debt pinches the mind, worse than hunger pinches the body.
1901 H. G. Wells First Men in Moon (1904) ix. 101 The sphere..was not in sight, and for a moment a horrible feeling of desolation pinched my heart.
2000 People (Nexis) 5 June 133 The bombing ‘has pinched my heart for 37 years’, says Reverend Cross.
b. intransitive. To afflict, trouble, distress, or harass, as though by a pinch.In quot. a1400: to oppress with poverty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > be harassed [verb (intransitive)] > harass
pincha1400
hag1525
the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > be oppressed > oppress or put stress on
instand1382
peisea1450
to sit on (upon or in) one's skirts1546
smart1601
pinch1685
a1400 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 54 (MED) Ilke man in lande no[u] leris wyt falsedam to pinchyn and pike.
?1553 Respublica (1952) v. iii. 46 As..bodylye foode is never founde to bee, so pleasaunte nor so goode, As whan fretting hongre, and thriste hathe pincht afore.
1576 G. Whetstone Castle of Delight 18 in Rocke of Regard When hunger pincht, on lustie youthes I prayd.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads viii. 278 Huge grief, for Hector's slaughter'd friend, pinch'd in his mighty mind.
1685 H. More Paralipomena Prophetica xliv. 375 The Visions indeed at last pinch closest upon the Roman Hierarchy.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. xiv. 548 The winter pinches, and with cold I die.
1771 J. Lovell in P. Edes Orations (1785) 11 Suppose this army..thought the parliament in actual rebellion..against those who paid and cloathed them—for there it pinches:—we are rebels against parliament;—we adore the King.
1876 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 469/2 Sometimes, too, the cold pinched terribly.
1946 G. Millar Horned Pigeon x. 142 The foul air pinched at our chests.
1996 Good Food Easter 32/1 Spanish sherry producers have watched their sales slide away as..the drink-drive laws began to pinch.
c. transitive. Of cold, hunger, disease, etc.: to destroy, damage, or waste; to afflict (a person) with privation or hardship. Also: to cause (a face, person, etc.) to appear pinched or drawn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict
overharryeOE
aileOE
swencheOE
besetOE
traya1000
teenOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
derve?c1225
grieve1297
harrya1300
noyc1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
wrath14..
aggrievea1325
annoya1325
tribula1325
to hold wakenc1330
anguish1340
distrainc1374
wrap1380
strain1382
ermec1386
afflicta1393
cumbera1400
assayc1400
distressc1400
temptc1400
encumber1413
labour1437
infortune?a1439
stressa1450
trouble1489
arraya1500
constraina1500
attempt1525
misease1530
exercise1531
to hold or keep waking1533
try1539
to wring to the worse1542
pinch1548
affligec1550
trounce1551
oppress1555
inflict1566
overharl1570
strait1579
to make a martyr of1599
straiten1611
tribulatea1637
to put through the hoop(s)1919
snooter1923
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)]
quelmeOE
eatc1000
martyrOE
fretc1175
woundc1175
to-fret?c1225
gnawc1230
to-traya1250
torment1297
renda1333
anguish1340
grindc1350
wringc1374
debreakc1384
ofpinec1390
rivea1400
urn1488
reboil1528
whip1530
cruciate1532
pinch1548
spur-galla1555
agonize1570
rack1576
cut1582
excruciate1590
scorchc1595
discruciate1596
butcher1597
split1597
torture1598
lacerate1600
harrow1603
hell1614
to eat upa1616
arrow1628
martyrize1652
percruciate1656
tear1666
crucify1702
flay1782
wrench1798
kill1800
to cut up1843
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > pinch
twitchc1410
strain1426
wringa1529
pinch1548
bepinch1612
nipskin1620
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > wasting disease > affect with wasting disease [verb (transitive)] > wither
pinch1548
beblast1558
forwelk1593
wither1599
perish1719
mummify1883
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by poor growth > cause to wither [verb (transitive)]
pincha1777
wilta1817
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xlviij If famine had not pinched them, or colde wether had not nipped them.
1574 St. Avstens Manuell in Certaine Prayers S. Augustines Medit. sig. Pv Let fastings forpyne the body,..let labour pinch it.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 152 The ayre hath..pinch'd the lilly-tincture of her face.
1652 A. Ross Hist. World i. iii. 13 His army being pinched with thirst.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 24 A most severe Cold, and which pinched our Men exceedingly.
a1777 S. Foote Nabob (1778) ii. 30 The polyanthuses were a little pinched by the easterly winds.
1842 A. Rodger Stray Leaves 110 Wi' belly aft pinched, and wi' back nearly bare.
1884 Fortn. Rev. Jan. 2 The labouring classes..have been pinched..by hard times, by increased expenses, and by loss of wages.
1913 Daily News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 29 Mar. 9 Many of them were shivering with cold as though afflicted with the ague and some of them actually seemed to be pinched with hunger.
1992 A. Kurzweil Case of Curiosities xvii. 121 I am pinched by want of food.
13. To move or press close (to).
a. intransitive. To encroach on or upon something (esp. land) so as to make narrower, restrict, or confine. Also: to put stress upon (a custom, practice, etc.). Also to pinch in. U.S. in later use.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > moral impropriety > be morally improper for [verb (transitive)] > infringe or encroach on
attaina1382
pinchc1400
accroach1423
usurp1447
to usurp on or upon1493
invade?1521
encroachc1534
jetc1590
enjamb1600
to trench on or upon1622
trench1631
trample1646
to gain on or upon1647
trespass1652
impose1667
impinge1758
infringe1769
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiii. 371 Ȝif I ȝede to þe plow, I pynched [v.r. picched] so narwe [C. on hus half acre], Þat a fote londe or a forwe fecchen I wolde, Of my nexte neighbore.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes sig. Ssss.iv It is a shame to beholde..how men pynche at suche beere balkes, whiche by long vse and custome ought to be inuiolablye kepte.
1610 in Dict. National Biogr. (1887) at Cowell, John He was requested to answer some other passages of his book which do as well pinch upon the authority of the king.
a1626 F. Bacon Wks. (1753) II. 128 And whereas they pinch upon the last words in the certificate, viz, that Cheshire was no part of the dominion, nor of the marches.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vi. §47. 457 I should have pinched hard upon this Practice, if it had not been a Push-pin Game.
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West xix. 346 Winter ‘pinched in’ on mining operations in Utah.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xxv. 394 The spurs of the Sierras..in mining parlance ‘pinch in’ upon the plain.
1956 N.Y. Times 6 May xx. 27/5 The road is..forced onto narrow ledges as the cliff walls ‘pinch in’ upon the stream.
b. transitive and intransitive. Nautical. To sail (a vessel) close to the wind, esp. too close. Cf. earlier pike v.2 Also with †upon.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > support (an amount of) sail [verb (intransitive)] > proceed with sails set in specific way
veera1625
pinch1704
flap1853
goose-wing1920
1704 tr. R. de Lussan Jrnl. Voy. into South Sea in Hist. Bucaniers Amer. (ed. 3) II. 315 On the 30th. we discover'd Land, we pinch'd upon the Wind, that we might know what place it was.
1831 T. O'Scanlan Diccionario Marítimo Español at Pinch Puntear. trans: to sail close-hauled.
1895 Daily News 11 Sept. 5/5 Captain Cranfield was pinching Valkyrie hard, but she..was..unable to keep as close into the wind as her rival.
1959 M. M. Dupre in R. Brindze Experts' Bk. of Boating 155/1 Your aim, when sailing to windward, is to ‘point’ as high as possible but in your anxiety to do this you may ‘pinch’ or attempt to sail too close to the wind.
1988 Boards June 50/3 When sailing fast, especially if pinching to windward, one gets the impression of a huge amount of redundant board sticking out of the water in front of the mast.
14.
a. transitive. To confine, limit, or constrain (a person); †to trap or pin down (a person) in an argument (obsolete). Also: to restrict (an idea, a state, an appetite, a movement, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)]
thringc1250
restrain1384
bound1393
abounda1398
limita1398
pincha1450
pin?a1475
prescribec1485
define1513
coarcta1529
circumscribe1529
restrict1535
conclude1548
limitate1563
stint1567
chamber1568
contract1570
crampern1577
contain1578
finish1587
pound1589
confine1597
terminate1602
noosec1604
border1608
constrain1614
coarctate1624
butta1631
to fasten down1694
crimp1747
bourn1807
to box in1845
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > quality of being restricted or limited > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)]
thringc1250
circumscrivec1374
arta1382
bound1393
limita1398
restrainc1405
pincha1450
restringe1525
coarcta1529
circumscribe1529
restrict1535
conclude1548
narrow?1548
limitate1563
stint1567
chamber1568
contract1570
crampern1577
contain1578
finish1587
conscribe1588
pound1589
confine1597
border1608
circumcise1613
constrain1614
coarctate1624
butta1631
prescribe1688
pin1738
the world > action or operation > difficulty > of difficulty: beset (a person) [verb (transitive)] > put (a person) in difficulty > reduce to straits
enstraita1500
plungea1513
to put or drive to a (or the) shift or shifts1553
to put (one) to (upon) his trump or trumps1559
to drive (a person) near1594
to put, drive, reduce, etc. to the last shiftsa1604
to be hard (also sorely, etc.) put to ita1616
press1672
pinch1693
push1761
a1450 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 19 (MED) Þei aren in cloþing prisoned & pynched þat, if þei oute schulen..hem bihoueþ be drawen out as an ele out of his skyn.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. diiijv No more, than we may pynche in, the Definitions of Wisedome, or Honestie.
1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 92 Thou dost thy self immure..In some one corner of a feeble heart: Where yet both Sinne and Satan..Do pinch and straiten thee.
1693 J. Ray Three Physico-theol. Disc. (ed. 2) i. iv. 59 When we are at a loss, and pinch't with an Argument.
?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. iv. 44 The Archbishoprick of York and;..the Bishoprick of Ely (being both of them thought needlessly gross..) were dieted, some say, pinch'd and impaired too much.
1753 Extracts Trial J. Stewart in Scots Mag. Nov. 559/2 The prosecutors are pinched in point of argument.
a1832 W. Scott Mem. 26 Apr. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) I. 43 Throughout every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance.
1879 Organ Voicing 6 If the holes in the upper-board..pinch the wind-supply.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 Apr. 10/4 It was not the Vietnam War that pinched the adolescent rush to prep schools.
1984 Time Mag. (Nexis) 7 May 18 China, feeling its independence pinched, had refused to submit to the constraint until just before the President arrived.
b. transitive to pinch courtesy: see courtesy n. 1d.
c. intransitive. Mining and Geology. Of a vein or deposit of ore, or a stratum: to contract in volume, to become gradually thinner; to pinch out: to become thinner to the point of extinction, to run out; also (rare) to pinch down, to pinch up. Cf. lens v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [verb (intransitive)] > narrow
to wedge out1819
pinch1867
to lens out1921
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [verb (intransitive)] > contract
twitch1704
pinch1867
1867 J. A. Phillips Mining & Metall. Gold & Silver iv. 56 The lode, which is eight feet wide on the north side of the Eureka, pinches out very rapidly in that direction.
1869 A. K. McClure 3,000 Miles through Rocky Mts. 267 They know that it [sc. the lead] may cap, or pinch, or play out entirely.
1872 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 307 The vein is 5 or 6 feet wide, on an average, but expanding sometimes to 15 or 20 feet, and pinching up in places to a few inches.
1891 M. Cole Cy Ross 93 The vein began suddenly to pinch last week..the vein is steadily pinching narrower and narrower as we advance.
1916 F. H. Lahee Field Geol. ix. 240 Sometimes strata are irregularly thinned and thickened so that they ‘pinch and swell’, as seen in cross section.
1928 W. A. Chalfant Outposts Civilization 82 High-grade veins were followed as they pinched down, even to half inch seams.
1945 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists 29 1563 The reservoir bed must pinch out in all updip directions.
1961 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 69 339/1 The layered marine sediments pinch out to the south.
1993 Jrnl. Petrol. 34 292 Some cyclic units thicken, thin, and even pinch out laterally.
15. † b. transitive. To extract or extort (money) from or out of a person. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To steal (a thing); to rob (a person). slang in later use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)]
pick?c1300
takec1300
fetch1377
bribec1405
usurpc1412
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
embezzle1495
lifta1529
pilfer1532
suffurate1542
convey?1545
mill1567
prig1567
strike1567
lag1573
shave1585
knave1601
twitch1607
cly1610
asport1621
pinch1632
snapa1639
nap1665
panyar1681
to carry off1684
to pick up1687
thievea1695
to gipsy away1696
bone1699
make1699
win1699
magg1762
snatch1766
to make off with1768
snavel1795
feck1809
shake1811
nail1819
geach1821
pull1821
to run off1821
smug1825
nick1826
abduct1831
swag1846
nobble1855
reef1859
snig1862
find1865
to pull off1865
cop1879
jump1879
slock1888
swipe1889
snag1895
rip1904
snitch1904
pole1906
glom1907
boost1912
hot-stuff1914
score1914
clifty1918
to knock off1919
snoop1924
heist1930
hoist1931
rabbit1943
to rip off1967
to have off1974
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)] > steal from
picka1350
lifta1529
filch1567
purloinc1571
prowl1603
touch1631
pinch1632
to pick up1687
to speak with ——1725
knock1767
shab1787
jump1789
to speak to ——1800
shake1811
spice1819
sting1819
tap1879
to knock over1928
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies i. xciii. 46 Of all men, Vs'rers are not least accurst; They robb the Spittle; pinch th' Afflicted worst.
1656 Witty Rogue Arraigned xxi. 30 Pinch'd the Cully of a Casket of Jewels.
1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 191 The fifth is a Glasier, who when he creeps in: To pinch all the Lurry, he thinks it no sin.
1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Crib, to with-hold, keep back, pinch, or thieve a Part out of Money given to lay out for Necessaries.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) I pinch'd him for a fawney, signifies I purloined a ring from him; Did you pinch anything in that crib? did you succeed in secreting any thing in that shop?
1869 Daily News 10 Aug. Brown was..alleged, in sporting phrase, to have ‘pinched’ the defendant out of 6l. 10s.
1902 Chicago Tribune 19 Feb. 12/4 I've got to go out now an' pinch a bottle o' champagne.
1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement ix. 474 Buying cars that have been pinched like that is a mug's game.
1969 Listener 24 July 103/2 ‘This was by car I take it—was there petrol?’ ‘Well, we somehow managed to pick it up.’ ‘You mean pinch it?’
1992 News of World 15 Nov. 9/3 A daft thief who nicked two left shoes from a shop in Hamburg, Germany, was nabbed when he went back to pinch a right one.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > extortion > practise extortion on [verb (transitive)] > extort
wringa1300
bribec1405
compela1500
extort1529
poll1559
wrest1565
scruze1590
rack1591
strain1600
squeeze1602
extorque1623
squeeze1639
screw1648
sponge1686
pinch1770
strike1894
1770 J. Massie Reas. against Tax on Malt 10 The Money..must be pinched from the bellies and backs of labouring Families.
1822 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 13 Apr. 69 The immense sums, thus pinched from the millions, and put into the hands of thousands.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. xiii. 115 He..had always pinched the full interest out of himself with punctual pinches.
c. transitive. slang and colloquial. To arrest, catch, apprehend, take into custody.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [verb (transitive)]
at-holda1230
attacha1325
resta1325
takec1330
arrest1393
restay?a1400
tachec1400
seisinc1425
to take upa1438
stowc1450
seize1471
to lay (also set, clap, etc.) (a person) by the heels?1515
deprehend1532
apprehend1548
nipa1566
upsnatcha1566
finger1572
to make stay of1572
embarge1585
cap1590
reprehend1598
prehenda1605
embar1647
nap1665
nab1686
bone1699
roast1699
do1784
touch1785
pinch1789
to pull up1799
grab1800
nick1806
pull1811
hobble1819
nail1823
nipper1823
bag1824
lag1847
tap1859
snaffle1860
to put the collar on1865
copper1872
to take in1878
lumber1882
to pick up1887
to pull in1893
lift1923
drag1924
to knock off1926
to put the sleeve on1930
bust1940
pop1960
vamp1970
1789 Times 28 Apr. 2/2 If the culprit himself was allowed to present petitions to that House whenever he was pinched, he could by this means divert the prosecution, by turning his accusers into culprits and criminals.
1837 Sessions Papers Cent. Criminal Court 4 Dec. 157 D——d if I'm not pinched for housebreaking at last.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 387/1 He got acquitted for that there note after he had me ‘pinched’.
1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp with Tourists 41 A traffic policeman had stopped us. But not to pinch us for speeding.
1999 J. Arnott Long Firm iii. 134 Arresting officer for an armed blag I got pinched for.
d. transitive. U.S. slang. To subject to a police raid.
ΚΠ
1895 Rep. on Police Dept. N.Y. (N.Y. State Senate Comm.) III. 3171 They came in, pinched the place, and took a different man who never was in the place before.
1908 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 26 Apr. 7/2 Davis said that he wasn't given half a show for his money and said that he wanted the place pinched.
1927 M. West Drag in L. Schlissel Three Plays by Mae West (1997) 133 Oh, My God, it must be the cops!.. My God, the place is pinched!
1974 G. Radano Stories Cops only tell Each Other 119 He's all shook up. Thinks we're going to pinch his operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > types of tide [verb (intransitive)] > pass highest or lowest possible level
pincha1647
a1647 P. Pett Life in Archaeologia (1796) 12 281 Until..the water pinched.
1757 Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 532 As soon as the tide pinched, the ebb came down at once.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > urge on > exhaust by
pinch1740
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > ride horse in race [verb (transitive)] > actions of rider
bore1677
jostle1723
pinch1740
pull1781
rope1854
screw1855
corner1861
ride1863
ready1887
poach1891
nurse1893
to ask (a horse) the question1894
stiffen1900
shoo1908
rate1946
stop1954
niggle1963
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. vi. 148 It is the vulgar Opinion, that a Horse has not been pinch'd, or pinn'd down, in a Heat when he does not sweat out.
1771 R. Berenger Hist. & Art Horsemanship II. 105 It is necessary sometimes to close your heels to the horse's sides; this is called pinching: but you must pinch him in such a manner as not to make him abandon himself upon the hand.
1864 Daily Tel. 10 June He declined to make an effort when ‘pinched’ by his jockey.
18. transitive. To move (a heavy object) with a succession of small heaves using a crowbar. See pinch n. 13. Now rare (English regional).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > push > with a succession of pushes with iron bar
pinch1888
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (ed. 8) 165 Pinching is the operation of moving a gun or mortar by small heaves of the handspike.]
1888 Whitby Gaz. 28 Apr. 4/4 I was engaged in pinching a bogie which was loaded with a ball of slag.
1895 T. Pinnock Black Country Ann. (E.D.D.) Gie me the bar, I'll pinch it forrat a bit while yo' restin'.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
> see also
also refers to : pinch-comb. form
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n.c1450v.c1230see also