Prehensile - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: Prehensile

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pre·hen·sile

Audio Help [pri-hen-sil, -sahyl] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something: a prehensile tail.

2.	able to perceive quickly; having keen mental grasp.

3.	greedy; grasping; avaricious.

[Origin: 1781–85; < F préhensile (coined by Buffon), equiv. to L prehens(us) (see prehension) + F -ile -ile

]

—Related forms

pre·hen·sil·i·ty

Audio Help [pree-hen-sil-i-tee] Pronunciation Key, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Prehensile

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pre·hen·sile Audio Help (prē-hěn'səl, -sīl') Pronunciation Key
adj.

Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object: a monkey's prehensile tail.
Having keen intellect; insightful.
Greedy; grasping.

[French préhensile, from Latin prehēnsus, past participle of prehendere, to grasp; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

pre'hen·sil'i·ty (-sĭl'ĭ-tē) n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
prehensile

1781, from Fr. préhensile (Buffon), from L. prehensus, pp. of prehendere "to grasp, to seize," from præ- "before" + -hendere, related to hedera "ivy," via notion of "clinging," and cognate with Gk. khandanein "to take in, hold" (see get).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

prehensile
adjective
1.	adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object; "a monkey's prehensile tail" [ant: nonprehensile]
2.	having a keen intellect; "poets--those gifted strangely prehensile men"- A.T.Quiller-Couch
3.	immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; "they are avaricious and will do anything for money"; "casting covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields"; "a grasping old miser"; "grasping commercialism"; "greedy for money and power"; "grew richer and greedier"; "prehensile employers stingy with raises for their employees" [syn: avaricious]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
prehensile [priˈhensail] adjective

able to take hold of something
Example: Most monkeys have prehensile tails.

Arabic:	قادِر على القَبْض
Chinese (Simplified):	能卷缠而抓住的，适于抓住的
Chinese (Traditional):	能卷纏而抓住的，適於抓住的
Czech:	chápavý
Danish:	fang-
Dutch:	grijp©
Estonian:	haardevõimeline
Finnish:	tarttuma-
French:	préhensile
German:	zum Greifen geeignet; Greif-…
Greek:	που διαθέτει την ικανότητα να κρατήσει κτ.
Hungarian:	kapaszkodó (ujj, farok stb.)
Icelandic:	grip-
Indonesian:	bisa memegang
Italian:	prensile

Japanese:	つかむのに適した
Korean:	잡기에 적합한
Latvian:	tvērēj-; tveršanas-
Lithuanian:	graibštus
Norwegian:	gripe-, fang-
Polish:	chwytny
Portuguese (Brazil):	preênsil
Portuguese (Portugal):	preênsil
Romanian:	agăţător
Russian:	цепкий
Slovak:	schopný uchopiť (sa)
Slovenian:	oprijemalen
Spanish:	prensil
Swedish:	med gripförmåga
Turkish:	yakalayabilen, kavrayabilen

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

prehensile Audio Help (prē-hěn'səl) Pronunciation Key
Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object. The feet of many birds, the tails of monkeys, and the trunks of elephants are prehensile.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Prehensile

Ap`pre*hend"\ ([a^]p`pr[-e]*h[e^]nd"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Apprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Apprehending.] [L. apprehendere; ad + prehendere to lay hold of, seize; prae before + -hendere (used only in comp.); akin to Gr. chanda`nein to hold, contain, and E. get: cf. F. appr['e]hender. See Prehensile, Get.]

1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [Archaic]

We have two hands to apprehend it. --Jer. Taylor.

2. Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.

3. To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.

This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it. --Fuller.

The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them. --Gladstone.

4. To know or learn with certainty. [Obs.]

G. You are too much distrustful of my truth. E. Then you must give me leave to apprehend The means and manner how. --Beau. & Fl.

5. To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.

The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence. --Macaulay.

Syn: To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread.

Usage: To Apprehend, Comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehended many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. "We may apprehended much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters." --Trench.

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