A pair of pincers or forceps; an instrument resembling tongs used for grasping or holding objects.
Direct from Latin forcipes, plural of forceps, meaning pincers or tongs. The Latin root combines forcere (to force) and capere (to take or seize).
The plural form 'forcipes' shows how English borrowed directly from Latin without changing the word—because Roman surgical instruments were so respected that doctors kept the original name.
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