tweezers

American

[twee-zerz] / ˈtwi zərz /

tweezer

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

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

tweezers British

/ ˈtwiːzəz /

plural noun

Also called: pair of tweezers. tweezer. a small pincer-like instrument for handling small objects, plucking out hairs, etc

"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

Etymology

Origin of tweezers

First recorded in 1645–55; plural of tweezer, equivalent to obsolete tweeze “case of surgical instruments” (aphetic form of earlier etweese, from French étuis, plural of étui, noun derivative of Old French étuier “to keep,” from Latin stūdiāre “to care for”) + -er ¹

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.

He used extra-long tweezers to place microgreens on a plate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

These "optical tweezers" keep drifting aerosols suspended long enough to study them.

From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025

If a tick has burrowed into your skin - it must be removed as soon as possible using a tick tool or tweezers.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2025

It has tweezers, whatever backgrounds I’m working with and cutting tools that are usually ballpoint pens that have run out of ink.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2025

He extracted the speckled purple jelly bean with a pair of stainless-steel tweezers.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023