pinch

pinch is a 5-letter English word with 24 senses as transitive verb, intransitive verb, noun, and verb in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: 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. Face value is 12 in Scrabble and 14 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

5 letters · Scrabble 12 · Words With Friends 14 · 24 senses

Definitions

1. transitive verb. 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. transitive verb. o seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals.
3. transitive verb. To plait.
4. transitive verb. Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money.
5. transitive verb. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4.
6. intransitive verb. To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches.
7. intransitive verb. To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.
8. intransitive verb. To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous.
9. noun. A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip.
10. noun. As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.
11. noun. Pian; pang.
12. noun. A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar.
13. noun. the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)

    "the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar"

    Synonyms: apprehension, arrest, catch, collar

14. noun. a squeeze with the fingers

    Synonyms: tweak

15. noun. a small sharp bite or snip

    Synonyms: nip

16. noun. a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action

    "he never knew what to do in an emergency"

    Synonyms: emergency, exigency

17. noun. a slight but appreciable amount

    "this dish could use a touch of garlic"

    Synonyms: hint, jot, mite, soupcon, speck, tinge, touch

18. noun. an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed
19. noun. a painful or straitened circumstance

    "the pinch of the recession"

20. verb. 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"

    Synonyms: vellicate

21. verb. cut the top off

    "top trees and bushes"

    Synonyms: top

22. verb. squeeze tightly between the fingers

    "He pinched her behind"

    "She squeezed the bottle"

    Synonyms: nip, squeeze, tweet, twinge, twitch

23. verb. make ridges into by pinching together

    Synonyms: crimp

24. verb. make off with belongings of others

    Synonyms: abstract, cabbage, filch, hook, lift, nobble, pilfer, purloin, snarf, sneak, swipe

Synonyms

apprehension, arrest, catch, collar, tweak, nip, emergency, exigency, hint, jot, mite, soupcon, speck, tinge, touch, vellicate, top, squeeze, tweet, twinge, twitch, crimp, abstract, cabbage

Common word forms

pinched, pincher, pinches, pinching, pinchable

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for PINCH lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.