know where the shoe pinches Definition

pinch
verb pinches, pinched, pinching

1. To squeeze or nip the flesh of someone or something, between thumb and finger.

Thesaurus: squeeze, tweak, press, grasp, nip.
2. To compress or squeeze something painfully.
3. Said eg of cold or hunger: to affect someone or something painfully or injuriously.
tr & intr
4. Said of tight shoes: to hurt or chafe.
tr & intr
5. colloq
To steal.
Thesaurus: steal, rob, pilfer, filch, snatch, nab.
intr
6. Said of controls, restrictions, shortages, etc: to cause hardship.
intr
7. To economize.

Example: had to pinch and scrape to get by
8. colloq
To arrest someone.

noun pinches

1. An act of pinching; a nip or squeeze.

Thesaurus: squeeze, tweak, grasp, nip, contraction, pressure, compression, cramp, hurt.
2. The quantity of something (eg salt) that can be held between thumb and finger.

Thesaurus: smidgen, dash, bit,jot,taste.
3. A very small amount.
4. A critical time of difficulty or hardship.

Thesaurus: emergency, crisis, difficulty, dilemma, predicament, plight, hot spot (slang).

Idiom: at a pinch

colloq
If absolutely necessary.

Idiom: feel the pinch

colloq
To find life, work, etc difficult because of lack of money.

Idiom: know where the shoe pinches

To know by direct experience what the problem or difficulty is.

Etymology: 14c: from French pincier to pinch.

Phrasal Verb: pinch something off, out, back

To prune (a plant) by removing the tips of its shoots.