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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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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.