pincer

UK/ˈpɪnsəɹ/US/ˈpɪnsəɹ/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,351 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: pincers

A pincer is a gripping claw, or one arm of a tool that grips. A crab's pincers, a pair of pincers, a pincer movement.

The tool is nearly always plural, so it is a pair of pincers, like scissors. A pincer movement is a military manoeuvre attacking from both sides at once, and the phrase is now used of any strategy that closes in from two directions.

Definitions of pincer

1nounpincerA gripping claw, or one arm of a tool that grips.C1
“The crab grabbed my finger with its pincer.”

pincer is a claw, or a tool.

Where it comes from

Old French pincier means to pinch, of uncertain further origin.

Old French
pinceure
Middle English
pynsor
English, today
pincer

Built from

pincier · Old French — to pinch

From Middle English pynsor, from Old French pinceure, pinchure, from pincier (“to pinch”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

pincer in the wild

At the same time, a second layer of pincers may attack the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units.
Pincer movement
In chemistry, a transition metal pincer complex is a type of coordination complex with a pincer ligand.
Transition metal pincer complex
In this family, the paired cerci at the end of their abdomens are pincer-like (superficially similar to the unrelated earwigs) and are used to catch their tiny prey.
Japygidae
Hereditary pincer nails have been described, although the genes or mutations causing the hereditary form are unknown.
Pincer nail
Sharpened pincers are also used to cut away natural calluses, also called chestnuts, from a horses body.
Pincers (tool)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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