Definition: pinch

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

pinch
     n 1: a painful or straitened circumstance: "the pinch of the
          recession"
     2: an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
     3: a small but appreciable amount; "this dish could use a touch
        of garlic" [syn: touch, hint, mite, jot, speck,
        soupcon]
     4: a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that
        requires immediate action; "he never knew what to do in an
        emergency" [syn: emergency, exigency]
     5: small sharp biting [syn: nip]
     6: a squeeze with the fingers [syn: tweak]
     7: the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a
        criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the
        collar" [syn: apprehension, arrest, catch, collar,
         taking into custody]
     v 1: squeeze tightly between the fingers; "He pinched her
          behind"; "She squeezed the bottle" [syn: vellicate, squeeze,
           twinge, tweet, nip, twitch]
     2: make ridges into by pinching together [syn: crimp]
     3: make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage,
         purloin, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak,
         filch, nobble, lift]
     4: cut the top off; "top trees and bushes" [syn: top]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Pinch \Pinch\, v. t.
   To seize by way of theft; to steal; also, to catch; to
   arrest. [Slang] --Robert Barr.
Pinch \Pinch\, v. i.
   1. To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as,
      the shoe pinches.

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

   3. To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous. --Gower.

            The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare.
                                                  --Franklin.

   To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Pinch \Pinch\, n.
   1. A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or
      with an instrument; a nip.

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

   3. Pian; pang. ``Necessary's sharp pinch.'' --Shak.

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

   At a pinch, On a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on
      a pinch read a little Latin.
Pinch \Pinch\, 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.

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

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

   3. To plait. [Obs.]

            Full seemly her wimple ipinched was.  --Chaucer.

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

            Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation. --Sir W.
                                                  Raleigh.

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

Source: U.S. Gazetteer (1990) 

Pinch, WV (CDP, FIPS 63772)
  Location: 38.40736 N, 81.47983 W
  Population (1990): 2695 (1065 housing units)
  Area: 9.1 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)