noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An instrument used in surgery or medical procedures for grasping and holding objects, similar to tongs or pincers.
2. 2
   an extractor consisting of a pair of pincers used in medical treatment (especially for the delivery of babies) wordnet
3. 3
   A pair of appendages on the abdomen of some insects, such as earwigs, resembling the medical instrument.

Synonyms

All synonyms

pincersbuffercorkscrewcrowbarinstrumentlathe

Example

More examples

"Sami used a forceps to pick the ant up from its thorax."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin forceps.

Related phrases

dressing forcepseyelash forcepsforceps deliveryforceps-likebegins forextract babygiving birthgrabbing thingsmedical clampmedical instrumentoperating toolother tools

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.