tweezers

[twee-zerz]

noun (used with a singular or plural verb)

small pincers or nippers for plucking out hairs, extracting splinters, picking up small objects, etc.

Origin of tweezers

1645–55; plural of tweezer, equivalent to obsolete tweeze case of surgical instruments (aphetic form of earlier etweese < French étuis, plural of étui, noun derivative of Old French étuier to keep < Latin stūdiāre to care for) + -er¹

tweezer

[twee-zer]

noun

tweezers.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tweezers

Contemporary Examples of tweezers

Much of the content was chit-chatty girl talk about longing for manicures, pedicures, a pair of tweezers and “underwear that fit.”
Is This a Photo of Casey Anthony?
Diane Dimond
January 18, 2012

Historical Examples of tweezers

Jewelers' tweezers are the finest thing to be had for this work.
Taxidermy
Leon Luther Pray
Arrange the fur over all stitches by picking it free with tweezers.
Taxidermy
Leon Luther Pray
Now, Dean, I must come to you for another of your surgical instruments—the tweezers.
Dead Man's Land
George Manville Fenn
Bobby procured his tweezers and began to set up his own name.
The Adventures of Bobby Orde
Stewart Edward White
The poor fellow has a thorn in his pad; I am going upstairs for my tweezers.
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

British Dictionary definitions for tweezers

tweezers

pl n

a small pincer-like instrument for handling small objects, plucking out hairs, etcAlso called: pair of tweezers, (esp US) tweezer

Word Origin for tweezers

C17: plural of tweezer (on the model of scissors, etc), from tweeze case of instruments, from French étuis cases (of instruments), from Old French estuier to preserve, from Vulgar Latin studiāre (unattested) to keep, from Latin studēre to care about

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tweezers

1650s, extended from tweezes, plural of tweeze "case for tweezers" (1620s), a shortening of etweese, considered as plural of etwee (1610s) "a small case," from French étui "small case" (see etui). Sense transferred from the case to the implement inside it.