forceps
Americannoun
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an instrument, as pincers or tongs, for seizing and holding objects, as in surgical operations.
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Anatomy, Zoology. a part or feature resembling a forceps, especially a pair of appendages at the posterior of certain insects.
noun
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a surgical instrument in the form of a pair of pincers, used esp in the delivery of babies
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( as modifier )
a forceps baby
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any pincer-like instrument
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any part or structure of an organism shaped like a forceps
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of forceps
1625–35; < Latin: pair of tongs, pincers, said to be a contraction of *formiceps, equivalent to form ( us ) warm + -i- -i- + -ceps -taker, derivative of capere to take ( cf. prince), i.e., that which takes hot things; compare, however, forpex, forfex tongs, shears, from which forceps may have been formed by folk etymology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Forceps were first used during difficult deliveries to save the lives of mother and child.
From Washington Post • Oct. 13, 2017
One of the twelve speakers at the general scientific meetings, he was asked to present his mile-long talking cinema called The Forceps Operation.
From Time Magazine Archive
Forceps brought the second baby into the world.
From Time Magazine Archive
Forceps, scalpels, hypodermic syringes and stethoscopes are precision-made and therefore expensive.
From Time Magazine Archive
Forceps are to be held in the right hand, the thumb in one ring, and the third, or ring finger, in the other ring.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Jackson, Chevalier
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
