pinch
[ pinch ]
/ pɪntʃ /
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
Idioms for pinch
pinch pennies,
to stint on or be frugal or economical with expenditures; economize: I'll have to pinch pennies if I'm going to get through school.
Origin of pinch
1250–1300; Middle English
pinchen < Anglo-French
*pinchier (equivalent to Old French
pincier, Spanish
pinchar) < Vulgar Latin
*pīnctiāre, variant of
*pūnctiāre to prick (cf.
pique1)
OTHER WORDS FROM pinch
pinch·a·ble, adjective un·pinched, adjectiveWords nearby pinch
Definition for with a grain of salt (2 of 2)
Origin of salt
1OTHER WORDS FROM salt
salt·like, adjectiveBritish Dictionary definitions for with a grain of salt (1 of 3)
pinch
/ (pɪntʃ) /
verb
noun
Word Origin for pinch
C16: probably from Old Norman French
pinchier (unattested); related to Old French
pincier to pinch; compare Late Latin
punctiāre to prick
British Dictionary definitions for with a grain of salt (2 of 3)
SALT
/ (sɔːlt) /
n acronym for
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or Treaty
British Dictionary definitions for with a grain of salt (3 of 3)
salt
/ (sɔːlt) /
noun
verb (tr)
adjective
not sour, sweet, or bitter; salty
obsolete
rank or lascivious (esp in the phrase a salt wit)
Derived forms of salt
saltish, adjective saltless, adjective saltlike, adjective saltness, nounWord Origin for salt
Old English
sealt; related to Old Norse, Gothic
salt, German
Salz, Lettish
sāls, Latin
sāl, Greek
hals
Medical definitions for with a grain of salt
salt
[ sôlt ]
n.
A colorless or white crystalline solid, chiefly sodium chloride, used extensively as a food seasoning and preservative.
A chemical compound replacing all or part of the hydrogen ions of an acid with metal ions or electropositive radicals.
salts
Any of various mineral salts, such as magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, or potassium sodium tartrate, used as laxatives or cathartics.
salts
Smelling salts.
salts
Epsom salts.
Scientific definitions for with a grain of salt
salt
[ sôlt ]
Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased. See more at complex salt double salt simple salt.
A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.
Cultural definitions for with a grain of salt
salt
In chemistry, a compound resulting from the combination of an acid and a base, which neutralize each other.
notes for salt
Common table salt is sodium chloride.
Idioms and Phrases with with a grain of salt (1 of 3)
with a grain of salt
Also, with a pinch of salt. Skeptically, with reservations. For example, I always take Sandy's stories about illnesses with a grain of salt—she tends to exaggerate. This expression is a translation of the Latin cum grano salis, which Pliny used in describing Pompey's discovery of an antidote for poison (to be taken with a grain of salt). It was soon adopted by English writers.
Idioms and Phrases with with a grain of salt (2 of 3)
pinch
Idioms and Phrases with with a grain of salt (3 of 3)
salt