pincer

\pɛ̃.se\

/\pɛ̃.se\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“pincer” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #30,739. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,739
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Serrer fortement avec une pince, avec des tenailles ou autres instruments semblables.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pincer · pincer · French

pincer · rank #30,739 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,739
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH Phyllis

Nearest frequency peer: Phyllis (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « pincer »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « pincer » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pincer vs pine
67% similar
pincer vs piper
67% similar
pincer vs pinte
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

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)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « pincer »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.pincerse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « Phyllis » (#30,738), « plastic » (#30,740), « personnalisés » (#30,737). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « pincer » est au #30,739. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around pincer (IPA \pɛ̃.se\), averb. Corpus frequency is #30,739 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 17 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for pincer, with forms such as "ipncer", "picner", and "pinccer". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pine", "piper", "pinte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is pincer, spelled P-I-N-C-E-R.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pincer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Pincez bien cette barre de fer pour la mettre au feu. — Vos tenailles sont faussées, elles ne pincent plus.
  2. Pincer quelqu’un fortement.

This word in other languages

strum(English)pinchar(Español)kneifen(Deutsch)beliscar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ipncer
  • picner
  • pinccer
  • pincerr
  • pincre
  • pinecr
  • pinncer
  • pnicer
  • ppincer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pincer - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ipncer2picner2pinccer1pincerr1pincre2pinecr2pinncer1pnicer2
Edit distance from "pincer"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

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's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pincer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

postez#30,747potier#30,748prêtés#30,756nymphe#30,721

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

notées9 variantsMelvin9 variantsMaureen9 variantsmalaria9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list