FORCEPS (forceps)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: forceps   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forceps mean? 

• FORCEPS (noun)
  The noun FORCEPS has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: FORCEPS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORCEPS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("forceps" is a kind of...):

extractor (an instrument for extracting tight-fitting components)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "forceps"):

lion-jaw forceps; mouse-tooth forceps (a type of forceps)

 Context examples 

A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the purpose of examination.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The researchers induced optic nerve damage in mice using forceps to crush the optic nerve of one eye just behind the eyeball.

(Visual activity regenerates neural connections between eye and brain, NIH)

These include static microisolator housing, handling animals with disinfected forceps, opening animal cages only in a hood, cage-by-cage testing and requiring that full barrier garb be worn by all persons entering animal rooms.

(Barrier Animal Facility Shared Resource, NCI Thesaurus)