to squeeze or compress between the finger and thumb, the teeth, the jaws of an instrument, or the like.
to constrict or squeeze painfully, as a tight shoe does.
to cramp within narrow bounds or quarters: The crowd pinched him into a corner.
to render (the face, body, etc.) unnaturally constricted or drawn, as pain or distress does: Years of hardship had pinched her countenance beyond recognition.
to affect with sharp discomfort or distress, as cold, hunger, or need does.
to straiten in means or circumstances: The depression pinched them.
to stint (a person, family, etc.) in allowance of money, food, or the like: They were severely pinched by the drought.
to hamper or inconvenience by the lack of something specified: The builders were pinched by the shortage of good lumber.
to stint the supply or amount of (a thing).
to put a pinch or small quantity of (a powder, spice, etc.) into something.
to roll or slide (a heavy object) with leverage from a pinch bar.
Slang.
to steal.
to arrest.
Digital Technology. to move two or more fingers toward or away from each other on (a touchscreen) in order to execute a command (often followed by in or out): Zoom in by pinching the screen.
Horticulture. to remove or shorten (buds or shoots) in order to produce a certain shape of the plant, improve the quality of the bloom or fruit, or increase the development of buds (often followed by out, off, or back).
Nautical. to sail (a ship) so close to the wind that the sails shake slightly and the speed is reduced.
Horse Racing, British. to press (a horse) to the point of exhaustion.
verb (used without object)
to exert a sharp or painful constricting force: This shoe pinches.
to cause sharp discomfort or distress: Their stomachs were pinched with hunger.
to economize unduly; stint oneself: They pinched and scraped for years to save money for a car.
Digital Technology. to move the fingers toward or away from each other on a touchscreen (often followed by in or out): Pinching in will zoom in, and pinching out will zoom out.
Mining. (of a vein of ore or the like)
to diminish.
to diminish to nothing (sometimes followed by out).
Nautical. to trim a sail too flat when sailing to windward.
noun
the act of pinching; nip; squeeze.
as much of anything as can be taken up between the finger and thumb: a pinch of salt.
a very small quantity of anything: a pinch of pungent wit.
sharp or painful stress, as of hunger, need, or any trying circumstances: the pinch of conscience; to feel the pinch of poverty.
a situation or time of special stress, especially an emergency: A friend is someone who will stand by you in a pinch.
Digital Technology. an act or instance of pinching a touchscreen.
Idioms
pinch pennies, to stint on or be frugal or economical with expenditures; economize: I'll have to pinch pennies if I'm going to get through school.
with a pinch of salt. salt1(def 24).Also with a grain of salt.
Origin of pinch
1250–1300;Middle Englishpinchen < Anglo-French*pinchier (equivalent to Old Frenchpincier,Spanishpinchar) < Vulgar Latin*pīnctiāre, variant of *pūnctiāre to prick (cf. pique1)
Related formspinch·a·ble, adjectiveun·pinched, adjective
salt
1
[sawlt]
noun
a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named: garlic salt; celery salt.
Chemistry. any of a class of compounds formed by the replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms of an acid with elements or groups, which are composed of anions and cations, and which usually ionize in solution; a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.
salts,any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.
an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency: Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.
wit; pungency.
a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.
Informal. a sailor, especially an old or experienced one: He's an old salt who'll be happy to tell you about his years at sea.
verb (used with object)
to season with salt.
to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.
to furnish with salt: to salt cattle.
to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.
to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice: The highway department salted the roads after the storm.
to introduce rich ore or other valuable matter fraudulently into (a mine, the ground, a mineral sample, etc.) to create a false impression of value.
to add interest or excitement to: a novel salted with witty dialogue.
adjective
containing salt; having the taste of salt: salt water.
cured or preserved with salt: salt cod.
inundated by or growing in salt water: salt marsh.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.
pungent or sharp: salt speech.
Verb Phrases
salt away,
Also salt down.to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.
Informal.to keep in reserve; store away; save: to salt away most of one's earnings.
salt out, to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.
Idioms
rub salt in/into someone's wounds, to make someone's bad situation even worse.
with a grain/pinch of salt, with reserve or allowance; with an attitude of skepticism: Diplomats took the reports of an impending crisis with a grain of salt.
worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary: We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.
Origin of salt
1
before 900; (noun and adj.) Middle English;Old Englishsealt; cognate with GermanSalz,Old Norse,Gothicsalt; akin to Latinsāl,Greekháls (see halo-); (v.) Middle Englishsalten,Old Englishs(e)altan; compare Old High Germansalzan,Old Norsesalta,Dutchzouten; see salary
with a pinch of saltorwith a grain of saltwithout wholly believing; sceptically
Word Origin for pinch
C16: probably from Old Norman French pinchier (unattested); related to Old French pincier to pinch; compare Late Latin punctiāre to prick
SALT
n acronym for
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or Treaty
salt
noun
a white powder or colourless crystalline solid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and used for seasoning and preserving food
(modifier)preserved in, flooded with, containing, or growing in salt or salty watersalt pork; salt marshes
chemany of a class of usually crystalline solid compounds that are formed from, or can be regarded as formed from, an acid and a base by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms in the acid molecules by positive ions from the base
liveliness or pungencyhis wit added salt to the discussion
early 13c., from Old North French *pinchier "to pinch, squeeze, nip; steal" (Old French pincier, Modern French pincer), of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *punctiare "to pierce," which might be a blend of Latin punctum "point" + *piccare "to pierce." Meaning "to steal" in English is from 1650s. Sense of "to be stingy" is recorded from early 14c. Related: Pinched; pinching.
salt
n.
Old English sealt "salt" (n.; also as an adjective, "salty, briny"), from Proto-Germanic *saltom (cf. Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Gothic salt, Dutch zout, German Salz), from PIE *sal- "salt" (cf. Greek hals "salt, sea," Latin sal, Old Church Slavonic soli, Old Irish salann, Welsh halen "salt").
Modern chemistry sense is from 1790. Meaning "experienced sailor" is first attested 1840, in reference to the salinity of the sea. Salt was long regarded as having power to repel spiritual and magical evil. Many metaphoric uses reflect that this was once a rare and important resource, e.g. worth one's salt (1830), salt of the earth (Old English, after Matt. v:13). Belief that spilling salt brings bad luck is attested from 16c. To be above (or below) the salt (1590s) refers to customs of seating at a long table according to rank or honor, and placing a large salt-cellar in the middle of the dining table.
Salt-lick first recorded 1751; salt-marsh is Old English sealtne mersc; salt-shaker is from 1882. Salt-and-pepper "of dark and light color" first recorded 1915. To take something with a grain of salt is from 1640s, from Modern Latin cum grano salis.
SALT
n.
Cold War U.S.-U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons negotiations, 1968, acronym for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (which would make SALT talks redundant, but the last element sometimes also is understood as treaty).
salt
v.
Old English sealtan, from Proto-Germanic *salto- (see salt (n.)), and in part from the noun. Related: Salted; salting.
pinch
n.
late 15c., "critical juncture" (as in baseball pinch hitter, attested from 1912), from pinch (v.). This figurative sense is attested earlier than the literal sense of "act of pinching" (1590s) or that of "small quantity" (as much as can be pinched between a thumb and finger), which is from 1580s. There is a use of the noun from mid-15c. apparently meaning "fold or pleat of fabric."
Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased. See more at complex saltdouble saltsimple salt.
A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.
Also, with a pinch of salt. Skeptically, with reservations. For example, I always take Sandy's stories about illnesses with a grain of salt—she tends to exaggerate. This expression is a translation of the Latin cum grano salis, which Pliny used in describing Pompey's discovery of an antidote for poison (to be taken with a grain of salt). It was soon adopted by English writers.
