2. to seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He [ the hound ] pinched and pulled her down. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To plait. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Full seemly her wimple ipinched was. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money. [ 1913 Webster ]

Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift. [ Slang ] Robert Barr. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

7. to catch; to arrest (a criminal). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. (Hunt.) To take hold; to grip, as a dog does. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare. Franklin. [ 1913 Webster ]

To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Pian; pang. “Necessary's sharp pinch.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar. [ 1913 Webster ]

At a pinch,
On a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on a pinch read a little Latin. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This spelling is preferable to pincers, both on account of its derivation from the English pinch, and because it represents the common pronunciation. [ 1913 Webster ]