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Glite Dictionary
🦞 A claw 🛠️ A gripping tool
pincer

pincer

3 5.8
A hand tool with two handles and curved jaws for gripping or cutting things like nails
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪnsər/
translation icon : tenaza
  • Using the pincers, she carefully removed the small pieces of metal from the engine.
  • hammer and pincers
  • pincer type

Examples

  • The mechanic grabbed the stubborn wire with a pair of pincers to cut it.

  • The man disconnected the pincers, laid them carefully into his bag, and left.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • You can grab the D ring on his harness with the pincers from the ROV.

    Last Breath (2025)

  • The man placed the bag on the floor, bent over and opened it, then stood up holding an instrument that resembled a set of pincers, from whose handles there hung a long, coiled cable.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • He used the pincer to pull the nail out of the wooden board.

Synonyms

pair of pincers
vspincer
5.1

A tool with two joined arms used to hold or pull things

is designed with curved jaws for pulling and cutting nails or wires

Compounds

pincer movement
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Attack from two sides at the same time to surround an enemy

How Strong

bolt cutter
12 3.9
pincer
3 5.8
cutter
67 2.5
tweezers
2.6

Surface Forms

pincer singular
pincers plural

Morphology

pincer = pinch (transparent) = pinch + er

The noun denotes an instrument formed from the verb 'pinch' with the agent/instrument suffix '-er', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

The word pincer comes from the old French pince, which means 'tongs' or 'to pinch' and is like the English word pinch. So a pincer tool has two jaws that 'pinch' together to grip, pull, or cut things.