Pincers: meaning, definitions and examples

Commonly used in carpentry, metalworking, and other trades to grip or pull out nails or small objects.

• The carpenter used pincers to remove the bent nails from the wood

Utilized in a variety of trades such as electrical work, jewelry making, and general repair tasks for gripping, bending, or cutting wire and other materials.

• She used pliers to twist the wires together while installing the new light fixture

Commonly used in cooking and food service for gripping and turning hot food, as well as in some industrial applications for handling hot objects.

• He used tongs to flip the steaks on the grill

Primarily used in medical and laboratory settings for grasping, holding, or extracting delicate objects.

• The surgeon carefully used forceps to remove the foreign object from the patient's wound

Typically used to describe a tool with two pivoting arms, often used for gripping or pinching objects.

• He used the pincers to pull out the nail from the wood.
• The blacksmith grabbed the hot metal with his pincers.

Generally used to describe the sharp, curved nails at the end of the limbs of animals such as cats, birds, and some insects.

• The cat extended its claws and scratched the furniture.
• Birds use their claws to grip branches tightly.

Mainly used to describe the jaw or jaw-like structures of insects and other arthropods, utilized for biting and chewing.

• The ant used its mandibles to carry the leaf back to the nest.
• The beetle's mandibles are powerful enough to cut through wood.

Mostly used in a biological context to refer to the pincer-like claws of certain arthropods, such as crabs and lobsters.

• The crab's chelae are incredibly strong and can easily crack open a shell.
• Researchers studied the structure of the lobster's chelae to understand their gripping mechanism.