pincer movement

/ ˈpɪnsə /

noun

1. a military tactical movement in which two columns of an army follow a curved route towards each other with the aim of isolating and surrounding an enemy Also calledenvelopment

Example Sentences

Last month they seized the village of Prechystivka to the west and Vodyane to the east to complete a pincer movement.

From BBC

“Arnsdorf’s book ... will give you a sense of how the Republican Party has landed on a plan to entrench power in a pincer movement: minority rule on the one hand and mass radicalization on the other.”

From New York Times

“I think the best way of thinking about Heller is it’s a classic pincer movement, where you have a well-coordinated effort among what I affectionately call the originalism-industrial complex, which includes the Federalist Society and libertarian and right-wing think tanks like Heritage and AEI and Hoover, and then a very popular grassroots movement for gun rights,” Fordham University professor and legal historian Saul Cornell said.

From Slate

In recent months, they had been slowly advancing through relentless assaults, in a pincer movement.

From New York Times

Russian forces in Ukraine have moved the front line more than a mile since October in a pincer movement intended to surround the critical town of Avdiivka in the disputed Donbas region, British officials said this week.

From Washington Times