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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To pinch at

Pinch \Pinch\, v. i.

  1. To act with pressing force; to compress; to squeeze; as, the shoe pinches.

  2. (Hunt.) To take hold; to grip, as a dog does. [Obs.]

  3. To spare; to be niggardly; to be covetous.
    --Gower.

    The wretch whom avarice bids to pinch and spare.
    --Franklin.

    To pinch at, to find fault with; to take exception to. [Obs.]
    --Chaucer.

Usage examples of "to pinch at".

She sorted through her bagged charms, stopping sometimes to pinch at the contents to freshen her memory of what was inside.

I had supposed that you had come to Bath to thank me for having befriended Lucilla: certainly not to pinch at me for having done so!