opposable
Origin of opposable
1Other words from opposable
- op·pos·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- non·op·pos·a·ble, adjective
- un·op·pos·a·ble, adjective
Words Nearby opposable
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use opposable in a sentence
Humans and other primates such as chimps, gorillas and orangutans also benefit from the use of opposable thumbs, which can be bent over the hand to touch the tips of the other fingers.
It remains to be seen whether other creatures with opposable-thumbs can snap, but that might be the next piece of the puzzle.
Snapping your fingers is a move worthy of a professional athlete | Elana Spivack | November 17, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThat elemental, primitive value of what we can do as animals with opposable thumbs, I don’t want that to atrophy.
This may be because moving around a joystick with your snout is a lot harder than with opposable thumbs, or because the pigs are just not as good at the task as primates.
Pigs can play video games. Here’s why that matters. | By Rebecca E. Nordquist/The Conversation | February 16, 2021 | Popular-ScienceIf frogs had opposable thumbs, Kermit would be twiddling them when Muppets Most Wanted begins.
‘Muppets Most Wanted’ Is a Perfect (Utterly Silly) Muppet Movie | Kevin Fallon | March 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the Didelphyidae the foot is broad, all five digits are well developed, and the hallux is opposable to the others.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. ReynoldsIn the Phalangers and Koalas though the second and third toes are very slender, the hallux is well developed and opposable.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. ReynoldsIt had the same place in crustacean development that the opposable thumb is believed to have had in that of man.
The Appendages, Anatomy, and Relationships of Trilobites | Percy Edward RaymondWhat a comedy that man should work so hard to prove that his chief glory is his opposable thumb, or a few ounces of brain matter!
The Whence and the Whither of Man | John Mason TylerBoth thumb and great toe are opposable; but the foot is a true foot, and the hand a true hand, in anatomical structure.
The Whence and the Whither of Man | John Mason Tyler
British Dictionary definitions for opposable
/ (əˈpəʊzəbəl) /
capable of being opposed
Also: apposable (of the thumb of primates, esp man) capable of being moved into a position facing the other digits so as to be able to touch the ends of each
capable of being placed opposite something else
Derived forms of opposable
- opposably, adverb
- opposability, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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