Pinch - English meaning

verb

Flatten by pressure; squeeze or press.

Usage examples:

The skirt can be folded and compressed into a relatively small bag

noun

A pad of lint or other absorbent material pressed on to part of the body to relieve inflammation or stop bleeding.

Usage examples:

A cold compress

verb

To press something into a smaller space

Usage examples:

Snow in the crater compresses into a fastest-growing glacier., firmly compress the dirt in the pot …

idiom

Do something the cheapest or easiest way

phrase

Do something perfunctorily so as to save time or money.

Usage examples:

There is always a temptation to cut corners when time is short

idiom

To do something in the easiest, cheapest, or fastest way

Usage examples:

I don’t like to cut corners when i have company for dinner.

verb

Spend less; reduce one's expenses.

Usage examples:

I have to economize where i can

verb

To intentionally reduce what you are spending or using

Usage examples:

You could economize on food by not eating in restaurants all the time.

verb

To make an effort to save money, time, resources, etc.

Usage examples:

Shoppers are going for less expensive food in an effort to economize., outsourcing is mostly used a…

verb

Steal or misappropriate (money placed in one's trust or belonging to the organization for which one works).

Usage examples:

She had embezzled £5,600,000 in company funds

verb

To secretly and illegally take money that is in your care or that belongs to an organization or business you work for

Usage examples:

They were arrested for the embezzlement of company funds.

verb

To steal money that is in your care or that belongs to an organization or business you work for

Usage examples:

While employed as business banking manager of the bank, he embezzled £300,000., embezzle sth from s…

verb

Pilfer or steal (something, especially an item of small value) in a casual way.

Usage examples:

They filched milk off morning doorsteps

verb

To steal something of little value

Usage examples:

Ok – who filched my pencils?

verb

Seize and hold firmly.

Usage examples:

She grasped the bottle

noun

A firm hold or grip.

Usage examples:

The child slipped from her grasp

verb

Hold firmly

verb

Set (someone) free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression.

Usage examples:

The serfs had been liberated

verb

To release someone from control, duties, limits, or prison

Usage examples:

Muoz rivera helped liberate puerto rico from spain., liberated nations/people, summer vacation mean…

verb

To help someone or something to be free

Usage examples:

They said they sent troops in to liberate the people/the country from a dictator.

verb

Raise to a higher position or level.

Usage examples:

He lifted his trophy over his head

noun

A platform or compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to different levels.

Usage examples:

Alice went up to the second floor in the lift

verb

To move something from a lower to a higher position

Usage examples:

[ t ] i can’t lift you up – you’re a big boy now!, [ i always + adv/prep ] the top of the stool lif…

noun

Private property taken from an enemy in war.

Usage examples:

The rooms were stuffed with the loot from francis's expeditions into italy

verb

Steal goods from (a place), typically during a war or riot.

Usage examples:

Desperate residents looted shops for food and water

verb

(said esp. of large numbers of people) to steal from stores

Usage examples:

[ i ] riot police were sent to prevent the mob from looting., [ t ] the officers of the corporation…

verb

Dishonestly or unfairly take (something, especially money, belonging to another) for one's own use.

Usage examples:

The report revealed that department officials had misappropriated funds

verb

To steal something that you have been trusted to manage and use it for your own benefit

Usage examples:

He misappropriated $30,000 to pay for personal travel.

verb

To steal something that you have been asked to take care of, and use it for yourself

Usage examples:

The court found that he had misappropriated €50,000 intended for investment on behalf of a customer…

verb

Catch (someone) doing something wrong.

Usage examples:

They recently nabbed a burglar inside the house he was ransacking

verb

Take into custody

noun

A small cut or notch.

Usage examples:

A small nick on his wrist

verb

Make a nick or nicks in.

Usage examples:

He had nicked himself while shaving

verb

Go quickly or surreptitiously.

Usage examples:

They nicked across the road

verb

Bite or pinch sharply.

Usage examples:

One of the dogs nipped him on the leg

noun

A sharp bite or pinch.

Usage examples:

A strong beak which can deliver a serious nip

verb

Take a sip or sips of spirits.

Usage examples:

The men nipped from the bottle

verb

Steal (things of little value).

Usage examples:

She produced the handful of coins she had managed to pilfer

verb

To steal things of little value or in small amounts

Usage examples:

[ i/t ] neighborhood kids were pilfering (candy) from the corner store.

verb

To steal things that are not worth much money, especially from the place where you work

Usage examples:

He was caught pilfering stationery more than once., they were charged with conspiracy to pilfer $60…

verb

Steal (something).

Usage examples:

He must have managed to purloin a copy of the key

verb

(of an organization or individual) reduce costs or spending in response to economic difficulty.

Usage examples:

As a result of the recession the company retrenched

verb

If governments, companies, etc. retrench, they start spending less money, or reducing costs

Usage examples:

Some large corporate r&d departments have retrenched., it's time to retrench and refocus on our key…

noun

A gun, especially one fired from shoulder level, having a long spirally grooved barrel intended to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance.

Usage examples:

A hunting rifle

verb

Make spiral grooves in (a gun or its barrel or bore) to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance.

Usage examples:

There are four basic ways to rifle a gun barrel

verb

Search through something in a hurried way in order to find or steal something.

Usage examples:

She rifled through the cassette tapes

verb

Take property unlawfully from (a person or place) by force or threat of force.

Usage examples:

He tried, with three others, to rob a bank

verb

Take

verb

To take money or property from a person or place illegally

Usage examples:

Two men robbed the store last night., elderly people should not be robbed of their dignity.

verb

Be thrifty or parsimonious; economize.

Usage examples:

I have scrimped and saved to give you a good education

verb

To spend as little money as possible

Usage examples:

She scrimped and saved to care for her two younger sisters.

phrase

If you scrimp and save, you manage to live on very little money in order to pay for something

Usage examples:

I've been scrimping and saving all year to pay for our holiday., my parents scrimped and saved to p…

verb

Expend or use less time, money, or material on something than is necessary in an attempt to economize.

Usage examples:

Don't skimp on insurance when you book your holidays

noun

A fashionably short or revealing garment.

Usage examples:

She wore a yellow skimp

verb

To use less of something than is necessary

Usage examples:

The district skimps on staff training.

verb

Quickly seize (something) in a rude or eager way.

Usage examples:

She snatched a biscuit from the plate

noun

An act of snatching or quickly seizing something.

Usage examples:

A quick snatch of breath

verb

Grasp hastily or eagerly

verb

Firmly press (something soft or yielding), typically with one's fingers.

Usage examples:

Kate squeezed his hand affectionately

noun

An act of squeezing something.

Usage examples:

A gentle squeeze of the trigger

Press firmly

verb

Take (another person's property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it.

Usage examples:

Thieves stole her bicycle

noun

A bargain.

Usage examples:

At £59.95 it's an absolute steal

verb

Take without the owner's consent

verb

Supply a very ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something).

Usage examples:

Stowage room hasn't been stinted

noun

A person's fixed or allotted period of work.

Usage examples:

His varied career included a stint as a magician

noun

A small short-legged sandpiper of northern eurasia and alaska, with a brownish back and white underparts.

Usage examples:

More than half a dozen species of birds have come to roost, which include black-winged stilts, catt…

verb

Hit or try to hit with a swinging blow.

Usage examples:

She swiped me right across the nose

noun

A sweeping blow.

Usage examples:

He missed the ball with his first swipe

verb

A sweeping stroke or blow

verb

Lay hold of (something) with one's hands; reach for and hold.

Usage examples:

Mrs morgan took another biscuit

noun

A scene or sequence of sound or vision photographed or recorded continuously at one time.

Usage examples:

He completed a particularly difficult scene in two takes

verb

Get into one's hands

verb

Be a thief; steal something.

Usage examples:

They began thieving again

verb

Twist or pull (something) sharply.

Usage examples:

He tweaked the boy's ear

noun

A sharp twist or pull.

Usage examples:

An affectionate tweak

verb

To change slightly, esp. in order to make something more effective or correct

Usage examples:

Writers and producers kept tweaking the script even as the movie was being shot., he jumped when sh…