Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wikipedia
The pincer movement, or double envelopment, is a military maneuver in which forces simultaneously attack both flanks (sides) of an enemy formation. The name comes from visualizing the action as the split attacking forces "pinching" the enemy.
The pincer movement typically occurs when opposing forces advance towards the center of an army that responds by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks to surround it. At the same time, a second layer of pincers may attack on the more distant flanks to keep reinforcements from the target units.
Usage examples of "pincer movement".
He went back inside the press room and found everyone's attention directed towards Harbourne Cressie, who had brought with him the owner and jockey of Pincer Movement.
The GIR pincer movement failed to capture and destroy all of the American aircraft before they could engage the GIR attack aircraft formations.
You can run a really efficient pincer movement with these, since you won't have to keep it small enough for both leaders to see each other.
Due to the nature of the two pronged attack by the Chinese and Coalition of South American States (CSAS) forces and the potential for allied forces to be caught in the resulting large pincer movement, the fall of Columbia was a very real prospect in early 2008.
I remembered how I'd seen this pincer movement from that other roof.
The Chinese had used their new amphibious assault ships and new landing craft to cross the Yellow Sea and land more than 100,000 troops south of Seoul in an attempt to create a pincer movement between themselves and their North Korean allies on the retreating American and South Korean forces.
Split up an' attack, usin' the pincer movement I was goin' to use from the back, this time at the front, but wid a difference.
Using the noise of the fight in the enclosure to mask their own progress, they formed a pincer movement that also saw them close off the open end of the enclosure, cutting off any escape the stickies might try to make into the open veld beyond.
The two outlying sec men, their laser blasters trained on him, moved in a pincer movement, slow and steady steps carrying them over the springy loam.
The Sunsguard will not only prevent us from engaging the Tedrels in a pincer movement across the Karsite Border, it will prevent them from coming back into Karse.
I still wasn't quite sure, but it had looked very like a sudden pincer movement.
The fires, both of them, must be getting close to the gorge, coming like a pincer movement, the one in the River Red Gum moving remorselessly up the Reedy Creek tributary and the grassfire coming up the other end of the gorge.