pinch

7 definitions • 14 examples

to press something, especially someone's skin, strongly between two hard things such as a finger and a thumb, usually causing pain:

Ouch! Stop pinching (me)!

These shoes are too tight, they pinch (my feet).

You say that you have to pinch yourself if you cannot really believe something that has happened because it is so good or so strange:

I can't believe that he's back from Canada and he's mine - I keep having to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

The sunsets are so beautiful you have to pinch yourself to prove you're not dreaming.

She was still pinching herself after having been told she'd won the award.

The dancers are still pinching themselves that they are going to perform for the king.

He had to pinch himself to be sure he was really sitting in the same room as his hero.

to steal something:

Right, who's pinched my chair?

a small amount of something, such as a powder, especially the amount that a person can hold between their first finger and thumb:

While the tomatoes are cooking add a pinch of salt/sugar/dried thyme.

figurative Opinion polls on subjects like this should be taken with a pinch of scepticism.

the act of pinching something or someone:

She gave Emma a painful pinch on the arm.

to tightly press something, esp. someone’s skin, between your finger and thumb or between two surfaces:

[ T ] He pinched his nose together and breathed through his mouth.

[ T ] I had to pinch myself so I’d know I wasn’t dreaming.

a small amount of something, esp. the amount that you can hold between your finger and thumb:

a pinch of nutmeg/pepper