in a pinch

Idioms  

1. In an emergency, when hard-pressed, as in This music isn't what I would have chosen, but it will do in a pinch. This term dates from the late 1400s, when it was put as at a pinch (a usage still current in Britain); pinch alludes to straitened circumstances.

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Example Sentences

In a pinch, I’ll take a Nixon or a Truman.

From The Wall Street Journal

Potential beneficiaries of this crunch could be coal companies in South Africa, Australia, and Indonesia that Asian economies may turn to in a pinch.

From Barron's

He never ran faster than he had to, but in a pinch he could fly.

From Literature

From what you say, you could, in theory, use your 50% share and a portion of your $500,000 liquid savings, if you were in a pinch, so try to put those bad dreams to bed.

From MarketWatch

They aren’t very environmentally friendly, but in a pinch they provide a lot of light.

From Literature