pincer movement

noun

1

: a military attack by two coordinated forces that close in on an enemy position from different directions

2

: a combination of two forces acting against an opposing force

Examples of pincer movement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Houthis could also fire long-range missiles at Israel, and target Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations—including their oil, energy, and economic infrastructure—from the south, as Iran strikes these countries from the north, in a joint pincer movement. —Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026

Allied airpower would provide the necessary cover to enable a southern-northern pincer movement that could collapse the Houthi hold on Yemen and eliminate the threat entirely. —Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2025

The administration is operating something of a pincer movement, applying pressure to all possible vulnerabilities. —David Folkenflik, NPR, 26 Feb. 2025

Multiple columns of smoke can be seen rising into the sky as Russian troops subject the town to a pincer movement. —Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pincer movement

• improvement