Forceps definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FOR'CEPS, n. [L.] Literally, a pair of pinchers or tongs.
In surgery, an instrument for extracting any thing from a wound, and for like purposes.
A pair of scissors for cutting off or dividing the fleshy membranous parts of the body.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an extractor consisting of a pair of pincers used in medical treatment (especially for the delivery of babies)

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural forceps) Etymology: Latin, tongs, perhaps from formus warm + capere to take — more at therm, heave Date: 1634 an instrument for grasping, holding firmly, or exerting traction upon objects especially for delicate operations (as by jewelers or surgeons) • forcepslike adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same) 1 surgical pincers, used for grasping and holding. 2 Bot. & Zool. an organ or structure resembling forceps. Derivatives: forcipate adj. Etymology: L forceps forcipis

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Forceps For"ceps, n. [L. forceps, -cipis, from the root of formus Hot + capere to take; akin to E. heave. Cf. Furnace.] 1. A pair of pinchers, or tongs; an instrument for grasping, holding firmly, or exerting traction upon, bodies which it would be inconvenient or impracticable to seize with the fingers, especially one for delicate operations, as those of watchmakers, surgeons, accoucheurs, dentists, etc. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The caudal forceps-shaped appendage of earwigs and some other insects. See Earwig. Dressing forceps. See under Dressing.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Forceps are an instrument consisting of two long narrow arms. Forceps are used by a doctor to hold things. N-PLURAL: also a pair of N