1. Press tightly between the fingers
   "He pinched her behind";
   - squeeze, nip, twitch
    
2. Make ridges into by pinching together
   "He pinched the clay to create texture";
   - crimp
    
3. [Brit, informal] Take by theft
   "He was going to pinch the phone someone had left behind";
   - hook [informal], snitch [informal], thieve, cop [informal], knock off [informal], glom [N. Amer, informal], boost [N. Amer, informal], pilfer, cabbage [archaic, informal], purloin [informal], abstract [informal], snarf [N. Amer, informal], swipe [informal], sneak [informal], filch [informal], nobble [Brit, informal], lift [informal], nick [Brit, informal], snatch [informal], whip [Brit, informal], blag [Brit, informal]
    
4. [Brit, informal] Take into custody
   "the police pinched the suspected criminals";
   - collar [informal], nail [informal], apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab [informal], cop [informal], nick [Brit, informal]
    
5. Irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear
   "the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back";
   - vellicate
    
6. Cut the top off
   "The gardener pinched the growing tips to encourage bushier growth";
   - top
    
7. Be frugal or miserly
   "Don't pinch on health insurance"
    
8. Feel the effect of straitened circumstance (e.g. lack of money)
   "Staffing and budget levels were pinched by the recession"

1. A squeeze with the fingers
   "He gave her nose a playful pinch";
   - tweak
    
2. An injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
   "He got a painful pinch when his finger was caught in the door"
    
3. A small sharp bite or snip
   "He felt a pinch on his arm from the crab's claw";
   - nip
    
4. A slight but appreciable amount
   "this dish could use a pinch of garlic";
   - touch, hint, tinge, mite, jot, speck, soupçon, smack
    
5. A sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action
   "The company found itself in a pinch when its main supplier went bankrupt";
   - emergency, exigency, exigence
    
6. A painful or straitened circumstance
   "the pinch of the recession"
    
7. The act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)
   "The police made the pinch after a lengthy stakeout";
   - apprehension, arrest, catch, collar [informal], taking into custody

Derived forms: pinched, pinches, pinching

Type of: bite, capture, chomp, clip, clutch, crisis, crop, cut back, difficultness, difficulty, dress, fold, fold up, gaining control, grip, harm, hurt, injury, irritate, lop, prehend [archaic], prune, rip [N. Amer, informal], rip off [informal], seize, seizure, small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity, snip, squeeze, squeezing, steal, take hold, take hold of, trauma, trim, turn up

Encyclopedia: Pinch, WV