browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
pinched |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: pinched adj 1: sounding as if the nose were pinched; "a whining nasal voice" [syn: {adenoidal}, {nasal}] 2: very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; "emaciated bony hands"; "a nightmare population of gaunt men and skeletal boys"; "eyes were haggard and cavernous"; "small pinched faces"; kept life in his wasted frame only by grim concentration" [syn: {bony}, {cadaverous}, {emaciated}, {gaunt}, {haggard}, {skeletal}, {wasted}] 3: not having enough money to pay for necessities [syn: {hard up}, {impecunious}, {in straitened circumstances(p)}, {penniless}, {penurious}] 4: as if squeezed uncomfortably tight; "her pinched toes in her pointed shoes were killing her"
more about pinched