- an act of pressing a part of somebody’s skin together hard with your thumb and finger, especially in order to hurt them
- She gave him a pinch on the arm to wake him up.
- He gave her a playful pinch on the cheek.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- the amount of something that you can hold between your finger and thumb
- Add a pinch of salt to the mixture and stir well.
- a pinch of cayenne pepper/cinnamon/curry powder/ground ginger/nutmeg/paprika/snuff
act of pressing
small amount
Word OriginMiddle English (as a verb): from an Old Northern French variant of Old French pincier ‘to pinch’.
Idioms
See pinch in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryat a pinch (British English)
(North American English in a pinch)
- used to say that something could be done or used in a particular situation if it is really necessary
- We can get six people round this table at a pinch.
- The recipe is for beef, but at a pinch you could use chicken.
feel the pinch
- (informal) to not have enough money
- Lots of people who have lost their jobs are starting to feel the pinch.
take something with a pinch of salt
(North American English also take something with a grain of salt)
- to be careful about believing that something is completely true
- If I were you, I’d take everything he says with a pinch of salt.
Check pronunciation:
pinch