Crossword clues for at a pinch
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pinch \Pinch\, n.
A close compression, as with the ends of the fingers, or with an instrument; a nip.
As much as may be taken between the finger and thumb; any very small quantity; as, a pinch of snuff.
Pian; pang. ``Necessary's sharp pinch.''
--Shak.-
A lever having a projection at one end, acting as a fulcrum, -- used chiefly to roll heavy wheels, etc. Called also pinch bar.
At a pinch, On a pinch, in an emergency; as, he could on a pinch read a little Latin.
Wiktionary
prep.phr. 1 (context AU NZ British informal idiomatic English) by the skin of one's teeth; only just; ''Deo volente''; perhaps; if you're lucky. 2 (context idiomatic English) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available.
Usage examples of "at a pinch".
Shenandoah National Park has just eight huts, each able to accommodate no more than eight people in comfort, ten at a pinch, in 101 miles of national park.
But mysterious caves and tunnels always have luminous fungi, strangely bright crystals or at a pinch merely an eldritch glow in the air, just in case a human hero comes in and needs to see in the dark.
The problem, however, is not that there are too many hikers for the shelters but too few shelters for the hikers, Shenandoah National Park has just eight huts, each able to accommodate no more than eight people in comfort, ten at a pinch, in 101 miles of national park.
However, I am not the man to fail you at a pinch, and if matters are well managed there is not much risk of its being found out that I had a hand in it until I am well away, and once in Ireland no one is likely to make any great fuss over my having united a runaway pair in Spain.