pinch , dent, pinch yourself, at/ in a pinch, recession- pinched

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself while I’m working there (i.e. The Oral History of American Music (OHAM) archive in the Music Library). It seems so unimaginable that there would be an archive at the school I attend that focuses solely on interviewing important people in my field.” (Brian Heim, a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.)‪#‎yalemusic‬ ‪#‎inspiringyale‬

Composers’ voices preserved for perpetuity at Yale

Brian Heim, a graduate student at the Yale School of Music, spends several hours each week at Sterling Memorial Library listening to influential American composers and musicians reflect on their work,

NEWS.YALE.EDU

Wal-Mart Boosts Private Label to Court Thriftier Consumers

Wal-Mart is expanding its private-label line to take advantage of recession- pinched consumers' desire for cheaper store brands.

Connect Two or More PCs--Anywhere, Anytime: Want to hook up multiple computers even when you're not on a network? In a pinch, you can create an ad-hoc network to transfer files or share an Internet connection. (Zack Stern, PC World)



AT&T Feels Pinch From Weak Economy

AT&T is expected to show a faster drop-off in landlines and weakness in its wireless business when it posts quarterly earnings Wednesday, offering Wall Street an idea of how much the economic slump has affected the telephone business.

Apple Email Service Suffers Glitches

Apple's premium email service continues to suffer from outages as the company takes another dent to its typically sterling customer-service reputation.

China's automobile price wars are heating up, forcing price cuts that are pinching industry profits. And the crowded field is helping dent the share prices of some Chinese car companies listed in Hong Kong and the mainland.


heat Show phonetics
verb [I or T]
to make something hot or warm, or to become hot or warm:
A large house like this must be expensive to heat.
Shall I heat up some soup for lunch?

pinch (PRESS) Show phonetics
verb [I or T]
to squeeze 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).

pinch yourself verb [R]
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.

pinch oneself

Take a moment to convince oneself that a good or pleasurable situation is real:sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize it isn’t all a dream

pinch Show phonetics
noun [C usually singular]
when you pinch something or someone:
She gave Emma a painful pinch on the arm.

pinch (STEAL) Show phonetics
verb [T] INFORMAL
to steal something:
Right, who's pinched my chair?
v., pinched, pinch·ing, pinch·es. v.tr.

1. To squeeze between the thumb and a finger, the jaws of a tool, or other edges.
2. To squeeze or bind (a part of the body) in a way that causes discomfort or pain: These shoes pinch my toes.
3. To nip, wither, or shrivel: buds that were pinched by the frost; a face that was pinched with grief.
4. To straiten: “A year and a half of the blockade has pinched Germany” (William L. Shirer).
5. Slang. To take (money or property) unlawfully. See synonyms at steal.
6. Slang. To take into custody; arrest.
7. To move (something) with a pinch bar.
8. Nautical. To sail (a boat) so close into the wind that its sails shiver and its speed is reduced.

v.intr.

1. To press, squeeze, or bind painfully: This collar pinches.
2. To be miserly.
3. Nautical. To drag an oar at the end of a stroke.

n.

1. The act or an instance of pinching.
2. An amount that can be held between thumb and forefinger: a pinch of salt.
3. A painful, difficult, or straitened circumstance: felt the pinch of the recession.
4. An emergency situation: This coat will do in a pinch.
5. A narrowing of a mineral deposit, as in a mine.
6. Informal. A theft.
7. Slang. An arrest by a law enforcement officer.

adj. Baseball.
Relating to pinch-hitting or pinch runners: a pinch single; a pinch steal of third base.
idiom:
pinch pennies Informal.

1. To be thrifty or miserly.

[Middle English pinchen, from Old North French *pinchier, variant of Old French pincier, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *pīnctiāre.]

dent Show phonetics
noun [C]
a small hollow mark in the surface of something, caused by pressure or being hit:
a dent in the door of a car

dent Show phonetics
verb [T]
1 to make a small hollow mark in the surface of something:
I dropped a hammer on the floor, and it dented the floorboard.

2 If you dent someone's confidence or pride, you make them feel less confident or proud:
His confidence was badly dented when he didn't get into the football team.

make/put a dent in sth
to reduce an amount of money:
The holiday made a big dent in our savings.

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at a pinch UK (US in a pinch)
Something that you can do at a pinch can be done if it is really necessary, but it will be difficult, not perfect, or not what you would really like:
I need £2000 to set up the business, but I suppose £1500 would do at a pinch.

in a pinch
In an emergency, when hard-pressed, as in This music isn't what I would have chosen, but it will do in a pinch. This term dates from the late 1400s, when it was put as at a pinch (a usage still current in Britain); pinch alludes to straitened circumstances.