pincer

/\pɛ̃.se\/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#30,739

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

pincer is aFrenchverb. It means: Serrer fortement avec une pince, avec des tenailles ou autres instruments semblables. Pronounced \pɛ̃.se\. Often confused with pine and piper.

Key facts for pincer
PropertyValue
Headwordpincer
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\pɛ̃.se\
Letters6
Frequency rank#30,739
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of pincer in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for pincer is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɛ̃.se\. Corpus data places it at rank #30,739 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for pincer, with forms such as "ipncer", "picner", and "pinccer". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pine", "piper", "pinte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is pincer, spelled P-I-N-C-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Serrer fortement avec une pince, avec des tenailles ou autres instruments semblables.
  2. 2
    Serrer fortement avec des doigts, ou un objet, conçu comme une pince, ou autre chose.
  3. 3
    Rapprocher en serrant fortement.
  4. 4
    Causer une douleur, produire une sensation vive et désagréable.
  5. 5
    Causer une vive douleur morale.
  6. 6
    Surprendre, saisir, prendre sur le fait.
  7. 7
    Être puni de quelque imprudence qu’on a faite.
  8. 8
    Être amoureux, aimer.
  9. 9
    Faire vibrer les cordes d’un instrument en les serrant et les tirant avec les doigts.
  10. 10
    Couper, généralement avec le bout des doigts ou avec l’ongle, une partie de plante pour empêcher qu’elle ne pousse trop au détriment d’autres ou éliminer des parties malades ou parasitées.
  11. 11
    Approcher l’éperon du flanc du cheval, sans donner de coup ni appuyer.
  12. 12
    Aller au plus près du vent.
  13. 13
    Faire rissoler fortement.
  14. 14
    Utiliser le pince-pâte sur les bords d’une tarte.
  15. 15
    Mettre les menottes.
  16. 16
    Morsure d’animal pas violente.
  17. 17
    Attraper une maladie.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ipncer,picner,pinccer,pincerr,pincre,pinecr,pinncer,pnicer,ppincer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for pincer

Misspelling Variants of "pincer"

ipncer6picner6pinccer7pincerr7pincre6pinecr6pinncer7pnicer6
Misspelling Variants of "pincer"

Frequency rank: #30,739 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pincer"?
"pincer" is spelled P-I-N-C-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \pɛ̃.se\.
What does "pincer" mean?
As a verb, "pincer" means: Serrer fortement avec une pince, avec des tenailles ou autres instruments semblables.
What words are commonly confused with "pincer"?
"pincer" is commonly confused with "pine", "piper", "pinte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pincer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pincer" is \pɛ̃.se\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pincer" come from?
"pincer" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.