Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A grasping tool having two parts hinged together to work in opposition.
  • noun One of the opposing parts in such a tool.
  • noun A claw resembling such a tool, as of a lobster or scorpion; a chela.
  • noun A pair of mandibles or other appendages used by certain arthropods for grasping, as the cerci of an earwig.
  • noun A military maneuver in which an enemy force is attacked from two flanks and the front.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any object that resembles one half of a pair of pincers
  • adjective See pincer attack

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a hand tool for holding consisting of a compound lever for grasping
  • noun a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English pinsours, pincers, from Old French pinceure, from pincier, to pinch; see pinch.]

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