pinch

n. 1. A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip. [ 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 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pinched p. pr. & vb. n. Pinching. ] [ F. pincer, probably fr. OD. pitsen to pinch; akin to G. pfetzen to cut, pinch; perhaps of Celtic origin. Cf. Piece. ] 1. To press hard or squeeze between the ends of the fingers, between teeth or claws, or between the jaws of an instrument; to squeeze or compress, as between any two hard bodies. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ]

n. [ Said to be from the name of the inventor; cf. It. prencisbecco. ] An alloy of copper and zinc, resembling gold; a yellow metal, composed of about three ounces of zinc to a pound of copper. It is much used as an imitation of gold in the manufacture of cheap jewelry. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Made of pinchbeck; sham; cheap; spurious; unreal. “A pinchbeck throne.” J. A. Symonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A clamp on a flexible pipe to regulate the flow of a fluid through the pipe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The European blue titmouse. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, pinches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ From Pinch. ] An instrument having two handles and two grasping jaws working on a pivot; -- used for griping things to be held fast, drawing nails, etc. [ 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 ]