pinching

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English[edit]

Adjective[edit]

pinching (comparative more pinching, superlative most pinching)

  1. That pinches, or causes such a sensation
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      It was one January morning, very early — a pinching, frosty morning — the cove all gray with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to seaward.

Verb[edit]

pinching

  1. present participle and gerund of pinch

Noun[edit]

pinching (plural pinchings)

  1. The act of one who or that which pinches.
    • 2012, Paul Theroux, The Lower River:
      Simon ate an orange, removing the peel in fastidious pinchings, such delicacy in a dugout on a river flowing through the bush.
  2. (horticulture) The act of pinching off new growth.
    • 1926, Bimonthly Bulletin of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, page 139:
      Six varieties gave more shoots from the greater number of pinchings while three had more shoots when pinching was discontinued August 10.
  3. theft
    • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 20:
      As "Kings of the Covers," they re-recorded happening disks by Elvis ("Heartbreak Hotel") [] and, for their most publicly-known pinching, THE JAYHAWKS ("Stranded In The Jungle").

Derived terms[edit]