'Pinching' definitions:

Definition of 'Pinching'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. to seize; to grip; to bite; -- said of animals. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • He [the hound] pinched and pulled her down. --Chapman. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To plait. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Full seemly her wimple ipinched was. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Figuratively: To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve; to distress; as, to be pinched for money. [1913 Webster]
  • Want of room . . . pinching a whole nation. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch. See Pinch, n., 4. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To seize by way of theft; to steal; to lift. [Slang] --Robert Barr. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • 7. to catch; to arrest (a criminal). [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Words containing 'Pinching'