[pinch] 
| 1. | to squeeze or compress between the finger and thumb, the teeth, the jaws of an instrument, or the like. |
| 2. | to constrict or squeeze painfully, as a tight shoe does. |
| 3. | to cramp within narrow bounds or quarters: The crowd pinched him into a corner. |
| 4. | to render (the face, body, etc.) unnaturally constricted or drawn, as pain or distress does: Years of hardship had pinched her countenance beyond recognition. |
| 5. | Horticulture. to remove or shorten (buds or shoots) in order to produce a certain shape of the plant, improve the quality of the bloom or fruit, or increase the development of buds (often fol. by out, off, or back). |
| 6. | to affect with sharp discomfort or distress, as cold, hunger, or need does. |
| 7. | to straiten in means or circumstances: The depression pinched them. |
| 8. | to stint (a person, family, etc.) in allowance of money, food, or the like: They were severely pinched by the drought. |
| 9. | to hamper or inconvenience by the lack of something specified: The builders were pinched by the shortage of good lumber. |
| 10. | to stint the supply or amount of (a thing). |
| 11. | to put a pinch or small quantity of (a powder, spice, etc.) into something. |
| 12. | Slang.
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| 13. | to roll or slide (a heavy object) with leverage from a pinch bar. |
| 14. | Nautical. to sail (a ship) so close to the wind that the sails shake slightly and the speed is reduced. |
| 15. | Horse Racing, British. to press (a horse) to the point of exhaustion. |
| 16. | to exert a sharp or painful constricting force: This shoe pinches. |
| 17. | to cause sharp discomfort or distress: Their stomachs were pinched with hunger. |
| 18. | to economize unduly; stint oneself: They pinched and scraped for years to save money for a car. |
| 19. | Mining. (of a vein of ore or the like)
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| 20. | Nautical. to trim a sail too flat when sailing to windward. |
| 21. | the act of pinching; nip; squeeze. |
| 22. | as much of anything as can be taken up between the finger and thumb: a pinch of salt. |
| 23. | a very small quantity of anything: a pinch of pungent wit. |
| 24. | sharp or painful stress, as of hunger, need, or any trying circumstances: the pinch of conscience; to feel the pinch of poverty. |
| 25. | a situation or time of special stress, esp. an emergency: A friend is someone who will stand by you in a pinch. |
| 26. | pinch bar. |
| 27. | Slang. a raid or an arrest. |
| 28. | Slang. a theft. |
| 29. | pinch pennies, to stint on or be frugal or economical with expenditures; economize: I'll have to pinch pennies if I'm going to get through school. |
| 30. | with a pinch of salt. grain (def. 27). |
pinch
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