feel the pinch

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Related to feel the pinch: make a killing, same old same old, along the lines, worse for wear, To Say the Least

feel the pinch

To be or feel constrained by recent financial hardship. We've been feeling the pinch since my wife's restaurant closed down. I've had to take on a second job just to make ends meet. Many families are going to feel the pinch if this new tax is passed.

See also: feel, pinch

feel the pinch

Be affected by hardship, especially straitened finances. For example, This job pays much less, so we're bound to feel the pinch. [Mid-1800s]

See also: feel, pinch

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

feel the pinch

COMMON If a person or organization feels the pinch, they do not have as much money as they used to have, and so they cannot buy the things they would like to buy. Poor households were still feeling the pinch and VAT on fuel made matters worse. Economic problems are mounting to the point where ordinary voters are beginning to feel the pinch.

See also: feel, pinch

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

feel the pinch

experience hardship, especially financial.

See also: feel, pinch

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

feel the ˈpinch

(informal) be under pressure because you do not have as much money as you had before: Schools all over the country are beginning to feel the pinch after the government cut back its spending on education.

If you feel a pinch from a shoe, it hurts your foot because it is too tight.

See also: feel, pinch

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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References in periodicals archive ?

He said: "Interest rate rises are impacting all mortgage holders, but it is the First Time Buyers and those who have traded up in last few years who will really feel the pinch.

Interest rise will hit Irish owners

The motorist will feel the pinch at the pump, the rural motorist will be pinched even harder and Gordon Brown will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Fuel for thought

It's the smaller building owners that may feel the pinch at first.

Landlords liable for sidewalks mishaps

Kevin Martin, who represents solicitors in Coventry and Warwickshire on the Law Society council, said: ``As a result firms up and down the country will feel the pinch. And some could be forced to close or to amalgamate."

Threat to small solicitors' firms

However, if that minimum rate was increased to pounds 4 an hour, just over 35 per cent of all businesses fear they would feel the pinch - with the retail sector claiming that they would be hardest hit.

FAIR SHARES

MAYBE the rich are beginning to feel the pinch. Aimed squarely at the seriously well-heeled, Pagani's fastest offering ever, the 233mph 739-horse Zonda R, was launched this week.

pounds 1.24M? NO WONDER PAGANI HAVEN'T SOLD THEM ALL

MOTORISTS will feel the pinch next month with petrol and diesel prices set to rise again.

Fuel prices rising again

Spin-off businesses including retailers, construction companies and hotels are beginning to feel the pinch, but it is nothing compared to what could happen in two years, Kuch says.

SMEs brace for slowdown

In apparel, those stores that rely on the upwardly mobile Yuppie and Generation "X" consumers will feel the pinch in sales of expensive clothing and jewelry.