pinch

1. 1.

   squeeze tightly between the fingers

   “He pinched her behind”

   “She squeezed the bottle”

   Synonymssqueezetwingetweetniptwitch

   Broadergrip

   Narrowergoosetweak
2. 2.

   make ridges into by pinching together

   Synonymscrimp

   Broaderfold

   Narrowerflute
3. 3.

   make off with belongings of others

   Synonymspilfercabbagepurloinabstractsnarfswipehooksneakfilchnobblelift

   Broader
4. 4.

   cut the top off

   “top trees and bushes”

   Synonymstop

   Broadersnip

   Narrowertail
5. 5.

   irritate as if by a nip, pinch, or tear

   “smooth surfaces can vellicate the teeth”

   “the pain is as if sharp points pinch your back”

   Synonymsvellicate

   Broaderirritate

Other forms of pinch

plural

pinches·

past tense

pinched·

present participle

pinching·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about pinch

What does pinch mean?

pinch means "a painful or straitened circumstance". That is the primary sense; the word has 12 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in pinch?

pinch has 1 syllable: pinch. In IPA it is /ˈpɪntʃ/.

What is another word for pinch?

Close synonyms include touch, hint, tinge, mite, jot. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is pinch a common word?

pinch is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.