brachiate

American  

[brey-kee-it, -eyt, brak-ee-, brey-kee-eyt, brak-ee-] / ˈbreɪ ki ɪt, -ˌeɪt, ˈbræk i-, ˈbreɪ kiˌeɪt, ˈbræk i- /

adjective

1. Botany.  having widely spreading branches in alternate pairs.

2. Zoology.  having arms.

---

verb (used without object)

brachiated, brachiating

1. to progress by means of brachiation.

brachiate British  

adjective

1. botany having widely divergent paired branches

---

verb

1. (intr) (of some arboreal apes and monkeys) to swing by the arms from one hold to the next

Other Word Forms

• brachiation noun

Etymology

Origin of brachiate

First recorded in 1825–35, brachiate is from the Latin word brāchiātus with branches like arms. See brachi-, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

I never did find another pair of striped jeans, but I found plenty of other stuff during my brachiating ramble through the store.

From Washington Post

While preparing for the role, he began a daily regime of working with the arm extensions he uses in the films and spent “a lot of time quadrupedding, climbing around, brachiating.”

From Seattle Times

While preparing for the role, he began a daily regime of working with the arm extensions he uses in the films, and spent “a lot of time quadrupedding, climbing around, brachiating.”

From New York Times

The dam marks the beginning of the final and most complex stage of the transformation of the Colorado River from a natural stream into a dispersed and brachiating resource-distribution system.

From The New Yorker

Each tree represents endlessly brachiating possibilities, and those vast roots are sprawling quietly on either side of the California highway system.

From The New Yorker