Meanings
plural pincers · alternative pincher
- Any object that resembles one half of a pair of pincers.
present singular third person pincers · participle present pincering · participle past pincered · past pincered · alternative pincher
- figurativelysometimestransitiveTo surround with a pincer attack.
The minesweeper and the sea tug now came along either side, pincered the Vega, and seemed to be ushering it toward Moruroa, perhaps attempting to push the ketch inside the 12-mile limit.
2004, Rex Weyler, Greenpeace1 more example
After considering all frontal counteroffensive alternatives, Heublein rejected them as detrimental to its profits and came up with a brilliant pincering maneuver. It raised the price of Smirnoff by one dollar, effectively preventing segment diffusion, […]
1984, Robert Lamb, Competitive Strategic Management, page 115
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna hand tool for holding consisting of a compound lever for grasping
nouna grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchpinceure
- Middle Englishpynsor
- Englishpincer
From Middle English pynsor, from Old French pinceure, pinchure, from pincier (“to pinch”).
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pincer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pincer
“pincer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pincer. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pincer,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pincer.
Source: pincer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.