Added 9 October 2026
pinch
/pɪnt͡ʃ/ verb
In Latin: vellico Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pinch at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
- The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
-
A close compression of anything with the fingers.
I gave the leather of the sofa a pinch, gauging the texture.
-
A small amount of powder or granules, such that the amount could be held between fingertip and thumb tip.
Mix about four cups of white flour with a pinch of salt.
Origin
From Middle English pinchen, from Old Northern French *pinchier (compare Old French pincier, pincer (“to pinch”)), a word of uncertain origin, possibly from Vulgar Latin *pinciāre (“to puncture, pinch”), from a merger of *punctiāre (“to puncture, sting”), from Latin punctiō (“a puncture, prick”) and *piccāre (“to strike, sting”), from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick”). More at point, pick and pitch.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)