Resembling or functioning similarly to forceps; having the grasping or pinching action of surgical forceps.
From forceps + like (Old English -lic, 'of the nature of, resembling'). The -like suffix creates adjectives meaning 'resembling' or 'similar to,' commonly used to describe things that act like other things.
The -like suffix is endlessly productive in English—you can attach it to almost any noun to mean 'resembles that' (elf-like, zombie-like, robot-like). 'Forcepslike' shows how we describe grasping or pinching actions by comparing them to the tool we know best.
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