"at a pinch" meaning in All languages combined

See at a pinch on Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase [English]

IPA: /ˌæ.təˈpɪnʃ/ [Received-Pronunciation] Audio: EN-AU ck1 at a pinch.ogg , En-au-at a pinch.ogg
Etymology: at + a + pinch (“tight squeeze”) Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=}} at a pinch, {{en-prep phrase}} at a pinch
  1. (Australia, New Zealand, British, informal, idiomatic) by a small margin or amount Tags: Australia, British, New-Zealand, idiomatic, informal Synonyms: by the skin of one's teeth, only just
    Sense id: en-at_a_pinch-en-prep_phrase-uB5OR6wi Categories (other): Australian English, British English, New Zealand English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49
  2. (idiomatic) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: in a pinch
    Sense id: en-at_a_pinch-en-prep_phrase--k1oTETI Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "at + a + pinch (“tight squeeze”)",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "at a pinch",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "at a pinch",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "by a small margin or amount"
      ],
      "id": "en-at_a_pinch-en-prep_phrase-uB5OR6wi",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, New Zealand, British, informal, idiomatic) by a small margin or amount"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "by the skin of one's teeth"
        },
        {
          "word": "only just"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "New-Zealand",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available."
      ],
      "id": "en-at_a_pinch-en-prep_phrase--k1oTETI",
      "links": [
        [
          "urgent",
          "urgent"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "in a pinch"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌæ.təˈpɪnʃ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "EN-AU ck1 at a pinch.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-at a pinch.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/45/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "at a pinch"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "at + a + pinch (“tight squeeze”)",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "at a pinch",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "at a pinch",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "New Zealand English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "by a small margin or amount"
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Australia, New Zealand, British, informal, idiomatic) by a small margin or amount"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "by the skin of one's teeth"
        },
        {
          "word": "only just"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "British",
        "New-Zealand",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "urgent",
          "urgent"
        ],
        [
          "difficult",
          "difficult"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌæ.təˈpɪnʃ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "EN-AU ck1 at a pinch.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/EN-AU_ck1_at_a_pinch.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-at a pinch.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/45/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/En-au-at_a_pinch.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "in a pinch"
    }
  ],
  "word": "at a pinch"
}

Download raw JSONL data for at a pinch meaning in All languages combined (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (95d2be1 and 64224ec). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.