in a pinch

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

in a pinch

1. (idiomatic) In an urgent or difficult situation; when no other solution is available.

   It's not a great fashion statement, but in a pinch a large trash bag will keep you dry.

Synonyms

• (in a difficult situation): when push comes to shove, when the chips are down, when the gloves come off
• at a pinch

Descendants

• Japanese: ピンチ (pinchi)

Translations

in a difficult situation

• Arabic: الشده
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 在緊要關頭／在紧要关头 (zài jǐnyào guāntóu)

• Finnish: pinteessä
• French: à la rigueur (fr), à la limite (fr)
• German: im Notfall, notfalls (de), zur Not
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: いざと言う時に (いざというときに, iza toyū toki-ni)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: iš bėdos
• Polish: w ostateczności (pl)
• Portuguese: em caso de emergência
• Russian: в тру́дную мину́ту (v trúdnuju minútu), в слу́чае нужды́ (v slúčaje nuždý), в кра́йнем слу́чае (v krájnem slúčaje)
• Spanish: en un apuro
• Swedish: om det kniper