at a pinch
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
used to describe something that can be done if absolutely necessary
Literally: at a pinch
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
But if you crave something more substantial, choose prawn or at a pinch, chicken — and preferably one of the drier versions, such as Bhuna or Madras or, even better, a Biryani.
(clips are also supplied with starter units — and these can be adapted to make light fittings out of pieces of guttering and the like at a pinch).
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “at a pinch” mean?
used to describe something that can be done if absolutely necessary Literally: at a pinch
Is “at a pinch” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.