Definition: pinching

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Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

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.
Pinching \Pinch"ing\, a.
   Compressing; nipping; griping; niggardly; as, pinching cold;
   a pinching parsimony.

   Pinching bar, a pinch bar. See Pinch, n., 4.

   Pinching nut, a check nut. See under Check, n.