feel the pinch

idiom

: to experience the problems caused by not having enough money or by paying higher costs
We are starting to feel the pinch of high fuel costs.

Examples of feel the pinch in a Sentence

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Jaguar Land Rover owners could feel the pinch from service issues in their wallets. Eric D. Lawrence, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025 In a shutdown, the first to feel the pinch could be the mothers and young children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food program. Caitlyn Kim, NPR, 30 Sep. 2025 Russian consumers will also feel the pinch. Ariel Cohen, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025 All borrowers, private and sovereign, that participate in the U.S. financial system will feel the pinch of that interest-rate rise because all loans are priced off Treasury rates in some sense. Adam S. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for feel the pinch

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“Feel the pinch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feel%20the%20pinch. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.

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