Definition of "forceps" []

• An instrument resembling a pair of pincers or tongs, used for grasping, manipulating, or extracting, especially such an instrument used by a surgeon. (noun)
• A pincerlike pair of movable appendages at the posterior end of the abdomen in certain insects, such as earwigs. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "-- Expansile forceps for the endoscopic removal of hollow foreign bodies such as intubation tubes, tracheal cannulae, caps, and cartridge shells.] _Screw forceps_."
• "That Australian lilt to a sentence is annoying as well and the word subjective should be removed with forceps from the minds of stupid people (except me) 1: 06 PM hatfield girl said ..."
• "Some persons use the word forceps for tweezers, but in this book, forceps are instruments for taking out a tooth."