Pinch v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinched p. pr. & vb. n. Pinching.]
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. to 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.
6. To seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift. [Slang]
7. to catch; to arrest (a criminal).
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.
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