A system of several pairs of levers crossing and pivoted at their centers in the manner of scissors, so connected that the movement of the first pair is communicated to the last, which is fitted with ends resembling those of a pair of tongs, for picking up objects at a distance. The name is applied also to a similar combination of levers used in machinery.
1836. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7), XIV. 450/2. A combination of levers called zig-zag, or lazy tongs, or scissors. Ibid. These lazy tongs are ingeniously applied by Mr. Aldous of Clapton, for conveying the motion of the beam of his steam engine to the crank which gives the circular motion.
1847. Ld. Lindsay, Hist. Chr. Art, I. 109. The other [soldier] presents him [the Saviour] the sponge of vinegar [note, On the instrument commonly called a lazy-tongs].
1862. H. Marryat, Year in Sweden, I. 118. Our course ran zigzag, like a pair of lazy-tongs.
a. 1864. Gesner, Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 31. The Lazy Tongs … is attached by a screw-joint to the sinker bar or other suitable rod of iron, and lowered so as to catch the end of the missing tool in its jaws.
