locking pliers vs pliers

locking pliers and pliers both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
locking pliers	Yes	No	No	No
pliers	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, pliers is a hypernym of locking pliers; that is, pliers is a word with a broader meaning than locking pliers:

locking pliers: pliers that can be locked in place
pliers: a gripping hand tool with two hinged arms and (usually) serrated jaws

Other hypernyms of locking pliers include pair of pliers, plyers.

locking pliers (noun)	pliers (noun)
pliers that can be locked in place	a gripping hand tool with two hinged arms and (usually) serrated jaws