Inflected forms: pl. forceps 1. An instrument resembling a pair of pincers or tongs, used for grasping, manipulating, or extracting, especially such an instrument used by a surgeon. 2. A pincerlike pair of movable appendages at the posterior end of the abdomen in certain insects, such as earwigs.
ETYMOLOGY:
Latin, fire tongs, pincers. See gwher- in Appendix I.
fôr
s
ps, -s
ps
