in a pinch

Slang definitions & phrases for in a pinch

in a pinch

adverb phrase
  1. If necessary; if need be: In a pinch we could make that do
  2. in a jam (1903+)

Idioms and Phrases with in a pinch

in a pinch

In an emergency, when hard-pressed, as in This music isn't what I would have chosen, but it will do in a pinch. This term dates from the late 1400s, when it was put as at a pinch (a usage still current in Britain); pinch alludes to straitened circumstances.