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penny-pinch

transitive verb
pen·​ny-pinch | \ ˈpenēˌpinch\

Definition of penny-pinch

: to give out money to in a niggardly manner takes a sinister but fascinating kind of joy in … penny-pinching his own family— James Yaffe : deprive of funds by petty economy penny-pinched himself out of … millions of dollars— S. N. Behrman

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History and Etymology for penny-pinch

back-formation from penny pincher

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