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pair of tweezers

pair of tweezers

3 2.8
Small tool with two thin arms used to pick up small things
  • noun
  • /pɛr əv ˈtwiːzərz/
translation icon : pinzas
  • She used a pair of tweezers to carefully pick up the tiny gemstone.
  • pull a pair of tweezers
  • keep a pair of tweezers
  • take a pair of tweezers

But some unexpected types of springs are other things like maybe an archer's bowstring or a pair of tweezers cuz the spring.

Examples

  • Then the second bee sting formed a pustule and I had to excise that with a pair of tweezers.

    Blog text (23)
  • He holds up a rolled piece of paper with a pair of tweezers.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • -Had to pull it out with a pair of tweezers.

  • Get me a pair of tweezers, will you?

  • In my case, in the pocket there, you'll find a pair of tweezers.

  • Using a pair of tweezers, I pulled out a black piece of tissue, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged it up.

    Blog text (23)
  • Before you actually get on to plucking your eyebrows, you need to have a good pair of tweezers.

    Blog text (16)
  • He put on rubber gloves and took out a plastic bag from his kit, along with a pair of tweezers.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Make sure to have a pair of tweezers on hand for any small repairs around the house.

  • He held the delicate butterfly with a pair of tweezers to avoid hurting its wings.

Synonyms

tweezer
vspair of tweezers
24 3.3

A small hand tool with two narrow arms used to hold tiny things

is the phrase written as two words referring to the same tool
tweezers
vspair of tweezers
2.6

A small metal tool with two thin arms to pick up very small things

is the phrase written as two words rather than the single-word form

How Precise

forceps
  • Specialized
6.3
pair of tweezers
3 2.8
tongs
1 1.0
pliers
2.3

Surface Forms

Morphology

pair + of + tweezers

The meaning is directly and transparently built from 'pair' (two matching items) and 'tweezers' (a two‑armed handheld tool): a 'pair of tweezers' is simply the two arms/joined tool used for grasping small objects. The 'pair of + noun' construction is a common, compositional pattern found across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Pair of tweezers comes from the tool's two thin arms joined at one end. The image of a pair of metal tweezers that pinch like fingers explains why it means 'a small hand tool used to pick up or hold tiny objects'.