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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
forceps
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A satisfactory alternative or addition to biliary brush cytology is direct biopsy of the stricture using small forceps under fluoroscopic control.
▪ For larger hooks, a good pair of curved surgical forceps can not be bettered.
▪ He seized a horrible pair of forceps and I closed my eyes as he started flexing his muscles.
▪ In one patient the lesion was destroyed by hot biopsy forceps and further biopsy specimens were free from carcinoid infiltration.
▪ In the bedroom Sir Richard Croft uses his instruments to bleed her and then muffles his forceps in cloth: does nothing.
▪ The women end up having more painkilling drugs and more interventions, such as the use of forceps or caesareans.
▪ They had to use high forceps.
▪ They maintained that David's death had resulted from damage done by forceps before his birth.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Forceps

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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
forceps

1560s, from Latin forceps "pair of tongs, pincers," apparently literally "something with which to grasp hot things," a compound of formus "hot" (see warm (adj.)) + root of capere "to hold, take" (see capable). Originally a smith's implement. The classical plural is forcipes. Related: Forcipal.

Wiktionary
forceps

n. An instrument used in surgery or medical procedures for grasping and holding objects, similar to tongs or pincers. (With singular or plural concord.)

WordNet
forceps

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

Wikipedia
Forceps

Forceps (plural forceps or forcipes) are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task. The term 'forceps' is used almost exclusively within the medical field. Outside medicine, people usually refer to forceps as tweezers, tongs, pliers, clips or clamps.

'Forceps' can be used as both the singular and plural form of the word. (Example: "I need a forceps.") Also, it is not referred to as a "pair" as one refers to a "pair of scissors". Etymologically, the word derives from the Latin forca, meaning a snare or trap.

Mechanically, forceps employ the principle of the lever to grasp and apply pressure.

Surgical forceps are commonly made of high-grade carbon steel, which ensures they can withstand repeated sterilization in high-temperature autoclaves. Lower quality steel is used in forceps made for other uses. Some forceps, intended to be used once and then discarded, are made of plastic. The invention of surgical forceps is attributed to Stephen Hales.

There are two basic types of forceps: non-locking (often called 'thumb forceps' or 'pick-ups') and locking, though these two types come in dozens of specialized forms for various uses. Non-locking forceps also come in two basic forms: hinged at one end, away from the grasping end (colloquially such forceps are called tweezers) and hinged in the middle, rather like scissors. Locking forceps are almost always hinged in the middle, though some forms place the hinge very close to the grasping end. Locking forceps use various means to lock the grasping surfaces in a closed position to facilitate manipulation or to independently clamp, grasp or hold an object.

Usage examples of "forceps".

Burrall mentions a case of labor without apparent liquor amnii, delivery being effected by the forceps.

The blood of one of the cut vessels entered the trachea and caused an extra paroxysm of dyspnea, but the clots of blood were removed by curved forceps.

The devices available to Kraft on the sampler tray have gone unchanged for a hundred years: knives, scissors, needles, thread, forceps, retractors, the all-important hemostat.

Korbonon slipped several blue springlike things into the wound that apparently did the same job as forceps, holding it open.

The weights must never be touched with the fingers, and the forceps for moving them is used for no other purpose.

On a nearby surgical tray were forceps, sterile sponges, a squirt bottle of Betadine solution.

Inside were several surgical instruments, a stainless-steel handsaw, a cranium drill, a mixed set of scalpels, forceps, hemostats, rib spreaders, and a variety of clamps, their stainless- and chromium-steel surfaces gleaming in the light of the bedside-table lamps.

While John stitched up the scalp of a Creek Arsen recognized as one of Soaring Eagle's original group of braves, Lisa was giving an injection to another Creek brave with a compound fracture of a lower arm, while Rose worked with forceps, small surgical knife, and steady, if bloody, hands to remove innumerable splinters and bits of pine bark from the legs and buttocks of Haigh Panoshian, who was turning the air around them midnight-blue with a torrent of curses, obscenities, blasphemies, and depthless crudities, all interspersed with yelps and yips and other indications of pain.

Proudly the surgeon displayed these reekingtrophies, holding them up in the forceps to show Tom, who lay in asweat of agony champing on the wooden wedge between his teeth.

Then he cleared all the little instruments out of his pocket-case--the scissors, the forceps, the bistouries, the lancets--and he laid them all out beside the stethoscope, to make as good a show as possible.

Then he cleared all the little instruments out of his pocket-case -- the scissors, the forceps, the bistouries, the lancets -- and he laid them all out beside the stethoscope, to make as good a show as possible.

To one sitte there lay the grim saws, retractors, tenacula, scalpels, bistouries (sharp and blunt-pointed), forceps, trephines, single-edged amputating knives and catlings, arranged with loving care by Poll and her friend the bosun's wife's sister, both of whom wore starched aprons, bibs and sleeves, and white caps.

To one sitte there lay the grim saws, retractors, tenacula, scalpels, bistouries (sharp and blunt-pointed), forceps, trephines, single-edged amputating knives and catlings, arranged with loving care by Poll and her friend the bosun’s wife’s sister, both of whom wore starched aprons, bibs and sleeves, and white caps.

On the further side, in front of the window, there was a board which was strewed with glittering instruments -- forceps, tenacula, saws, canulas, and trocars.

An array of grim saws, retractors, scalpels, forceps, trephines, catlings and other mysterious torture instruments were arranged with loving care by Mrs.