pinch

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to squeeze tightly between finger and thumb, or a small amount

   Add a pinch of salt to the dough.

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Simplified etymology

Pinch comes from a variant of Old French pincier, “to pinch,” which also gave English pincers. Its transferred senses include “hardship,” recorded from the early 17th century, and the slang meaning “steal,” from the mid-17th century.

From Anglo-Norman pincher, variant of Old French pincier ('to pinch, squeeze'), of uncertain ultimate origin, possibly from a Vulgar Latin blend of *punctiare ('to prick') and *pīccāre ('to pierce').

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