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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PINCH, v., n. Also pince (Rxb. 1848 R. Davidson Leaves 195); punch. Sc. forms and usages: I. v. 1. As in Eng. Hence n. pinchers, ¶pinashears, a tool for pinching or grasping, tweezers, pincers, pliers, tongs (Abd. 1903 E.D.D.). Gen.Sc. Also in Eng. dial.; pinchly, with difficulty, scarcely, scrimply; ¶pinch-neb, a lorgnette, “pince-nez”.Sc. 1792 G. Galloway Poems 52:
He's glad to wield the pinchers.Sc. 1818 Anon. Scotland Compared 13:
Sae roung wi' stanes, sae deep wi' mud an' glaur, That steers cou'd pinchly pu' their clumsy car.ne.Sc. 1832 P. Buchan Secret Songs 42:
Wi' hammer, and wi' pina shears And rivets all o' metal.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 89:
Gallant brutes could pinchly draw Their drauchts alang.Sh. 1900 Shetland News (3 Feb.):
Da faider hed ta poo da nail wi' his pinchers.Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo i.:
Porkin' bad weans into the flamin' lowes, as he wad pork a horse shae, wi his pinchers.Edb. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 146:
Then she put up her pinchneb and she glowered at the yachts in the water.

2. To deal out in a niggardly way, to stint, use with excessive economy. Gen.Sc. Obs. or dial. in Eng. Hence pinch-commons, pinch-the-pan, a person who is mean and niggardly in the matter of food.Sc. 1821 Scott Pirate vi.:
The niggardly pinch-commons, by which it is inhabited.Dmf. 1836 A. Cunningham Lord Roldan II. xii.:
Morison's just liberality itself, and winna wed wi' a pinch-the-pan.Sc. 1909 N.E.D.:
Ye needna hae pincht the water; it's cheap aneuch ony way. Dinna pinch the elbow-grease.

3. To puzzle, put into difficulty, bring to a standstill. Rare or obs. in Eng.Sc. 1753 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 559:
The prosecutors are pinched in point of argument.Edb. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 32:
What to say hersell, she said, It did completely pinch her.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xxiii.:
Ye'll no be pinched to find out Johnnie Mortsheugh . . . he dwells near the Tod's-hole.Slk. 1822 Hogg Tales (1865) 628:
They might tak' our lasses frae us, but we wadna be ill pinched to tak their kye frae them.Lnk. 1885 J. Hamilton Poems 306:
It pinched them richt sairly to hand in their life.

4. To move (a heavy object) by a succession of small heaves, to lever. Gen.Sc. Also in Eng. dial. Hence pincher, pinching-bar, a crow-bar (I., ne.Sc., Lth., wm. and s.Sc. 1965). Cf. II. 1.Edb. 1798 Edb. Weekly Jnl. (14 Nov.) 361:
Three large iron crows or pinchers were again stolen and carried off from the said quarries.Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man III. i.:
Bring gavelocks and ern mells, pinching-bars, and howies, and break open every gate, bar, and door in this castle.

5. To give a stone a preliminary rough dressing, to chisel roughly. Hence pincher, a blunt chisel with a broad bevelled face for chipping the edge of a stone after it has been squared off, a mason's pitching-tool (Cai., Fif. 1958).Fif. 1864 St. Andrews Gazette (6 Aug.):
The walls . . . are executed with rubble neatly squared, and pinched to the surface line at the joints, and left rough, with an irregular projection on the face.Sc. 1899 A. Mathieson & Son Tool Catalogue 69:
Hammer Head Tools. Pinchers or Pitching Tools . . . 12/6 Doz.

II. n. 1. An iron rod or bar with a pointed end for the application of leverage or for making post holes, a crow-bar (Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 50; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; Ayr. 1923 Wilson Dial. Burns 179; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein). Gen.Sc., also dial. in Eng. Combs. hand-pinch (Cai. 1965), pinch-bar (Uls. 1953 Traynor; Dmf. 1965), id. Cf. I. 4. Hence pincher, a person who uses or wields a crow-bar (Sc. 1882 Ogilvie Dict.).n.Sc. c.1764 W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) II. 442:
Needful tools, viz., spade, pick , wheelbarrow, pinch, and hatchet.Per. 1773 Sc. Farmer I. 197:
One man may raise a stone of greater weight, than six men will do with their hands, pinches or handspakes.Hdg. 1788 Scots Mag. (Jan. 1897) 153:
To James Brown for carring the pinch to the mynd. 6d.Gsw. 1800 Edb. Weekly Jnl. (8 Oct.) 326:
An iron pinch, about four feet long, with which they had forced up the window.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxiii.:
Ca' for fore-hammers, sledge-hammers, pinches, and coulters.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 190:
Here scores their pinches and their picks Atween the ashlar stanes did fix.Lnk. 1880 P. M'Arthur Amusements 139:
His pick, his pinch, an' haftless spade.Arg. 1917 H. Foulis Jimmy Swan 91:
When I'm in Kirkfinn, the Boots at the Inn has to pry open my door wi' an iron pinch to waken me.Abd. 1953 Fraserburgh Herald (26 May):
Mail and Pinch, Minor Hand and Fencing Tools.Cai. 1965:
A han'-pinch, i.e., a small crow-bar, was carried by carters conveying flagstones from the quarries on flat carts without sides. It allowed them to adjust the heavy flagstones if they began to slip.

2. A thrust, an application of leverage; a stroke, blow.Sc. 1758 Session Papers, Petition P. Geddes (14 Feb.) 5:
He could have brought down the Half Gavel that was left by the Pinch of a Pick.