forceps
forceps Lexical Profile
forceps Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A handheld, hinged instrument resembling tongs or large tweezers, used in surgery, obstetrics, and laboratory work for grasping, holding, or extracting objects or tissues.
"The surgeon used sterile forceps to carefully remove the tiny splinter of glass from the patient's hand."
A pair of pincer-like anatomical appendages on an arthropod, such as those located at the rear of an earwig's abdomen.
"The male earwig features curved forceps at the tip of its abdomen that are used for defense and courtship."
Word Nuance & Usage
Like 'scissors' or 'tongs', 'forceps' is identically spelled in the singular and plural, and typically takes a plural verb or is preceded by 'a pair of'.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed directly from Latin 'forceps' ('tongs, pincers'), a contraction of 'formucapes', from 'formus' ('hot, warm') and 'capere' ('to take'), originally denoting blacksmiths' tongs for grasping hot metal.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.