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.
    with a pinch of salt. salt1(def 24). Also with a grain of salt.

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, adjective

Definition for with a grain of salt (2 of 2)

Origin of salt

1
before 900; (noun and adj.) Middle English; Old English sealt; cognate with German Salz, Old Norse, Gothic salt; akin to Latin sāl, Greek háls (see halo-); (v.) Middle English salten, Old English s(e)altan; compare Old High German salzan, Old Norse salta, Dutch zouten; see salary

OTHER WORDS FROM salt

salt·like, adjective

British 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)
See also salt away, salt out, salts

Derived forms of salt

saltish, adjective saltless, adjective saltlike, adjective saltness, noun

Word 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