Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) a theft, esp. short-changing; an act of stealing or plagiarism; also in fig. use.

1777		J. Fielding Thieving Detected 41: The Pinch or Truck.
1781		G. Parker View of Society II 78: The Pinch. This Rig is changing of money [...] Some of the practitioners are so amazingly clever, that in the change of half-a-guinea, or a guinea they will pinch one, two, or three shillings from you, without the least suspicion.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn) n.p.: Pinchers. Rogues who, in changing money, by dexterity of hand frequently secrete two or three shillings out of the change of a guinea. This species of roguery is called the pinch, or pinching lay.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 258: pinch: [...] This game is a branch of shoplifting; but when the hoist is spoken of it commonly applies to stealing articles of a larger, though less valuable, kind, as pieces of muslin, or silk handkerchiefs, printed cotton, &c.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. ‘On the trail.’ ‘But cant us the cues. What was the job?’ ‘A pinch for an emperor’s slang. We touched his leather too, but it was very lathy’ [F&H].
1898		Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 191: It was nothing less than a ‘blooming pinch’ for ‘Number Twenty-one’.
1906		Marvel 21 Apr. 346: When did yer do yer last pinch?
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 146: Pinch.– A small theft.
1939		P. Cheyney Don’t Get Me Wrong (1956) 108: This poison-gas formula pinch [...] is goin’ to be such a big-time schemozzle that he’d better keep outa it.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1999		Guardian Rev. 25 June 9: Ratner does this year’s most blatant Hitchcock pinch.

(b) (orig. US) a police raid, an arrest.

1822		W. Scott Peveril of the Peak I 130: Never mind a warrant for a pinch, Master Bridgenorth [...] sure enough you have acted upon a worse yourself.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 42/1: In the event of a ‘stink’ a description would be given of us strangers, and finally a ‘pinch’.
1896		F. Hutcheson Barkeep Stories ‘[D]dat’s de fourt’ pinch dat’s come off in de joint in two weeks’.
1906		A.H. Lewis Confessions of a Detective 74: The pinch comes off; the copper runs in the rich thief, and then he and the lawyer shake him down between them for the bundle.
1914		Amer. Mag. 77 June 31–5: The entire house was surrounded. We were trapped [...] I turned to my pal. ‘It’s the pinch, old boy,’ I said.
1920		F. Williams Hop-Heads 28: One of the men told of ‘the pinch’ of a peddler.
1937		‘Boxcar Bertha’ Sister of the Road (1975) 7: Police and pinches, jails, bughouses, and joints seem to have been always a part of my life.
1944		E.S. Gardner Case of the Crooked Candle (1958) 92: The officer’s hand grasped her arm [...] ‘This is a pinch.’.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 112: What’s this, a pinch?
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 11: What is it? Can’t you stand a pinch?
1974		H. Levin Bandiet 32: ‘And you?’ ‘Oh, me. sabotage.’ [...] ‘Oh that’s bad, man, that’s a bad pinch, man.’.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 106: ‘Listen, fellas, providing you don’t hit him too badly, there’s no pinch’.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 71: I’m going to have the distinction of getting Paul Vario’s favorite son his first pinch.
2000		R.G. Barrett Leaving Bondi (2013) [ebook] ‘They’ve got me on a pretty heavy pinch’.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 254: ‘Carneglia is a good pinch, and he’s already talking’.

(c) (Aus.) a prison.

1906

E. Dyson Fact’ry ’Ands 101: Ther Elder was back in er hour, ’n’ had me outer pinch ez quick ez could be.

(d) (US) an arrested person.

1927

B. Cormack Racket Act I: Did he see the pinch jump when he heard my name?

(e) (US und.) an act of extortion; a demand for bribery; a pay-off.

1931		Dly News (NY) 3 Mar. 6/2: Gang Slang. It looked like a pinch and the passing out of a buck or two; a pinch and a shake.
1971		R.T. Sale Blackstone Rangers 25: In any deal, any deal at all, the city had to get its cut and the local congressman took care he got his pinch too.

(a) a small amount of marijuana, enough for perhaps two cigarettes.

1968		‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 170: A pinch (approximately one or two marijuana cigarettes).

(b) a small amount of a narcotic drug.

1978		R. Charles Brother Ray 169: I might get high in the morning and then maybe take a little pinch [of heroin] before or after a gig at night.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 66: You gonna try to score for some of her Spic dope ain’t ya? [...] Lay a pinch on old Sparky if you do.