pensile

American  

[pen-sahyl, -sil] / ˈpɛn saɪl, -sɪl /

adjective

1. hanging, as the nests of certain birds.

2. building a hanging nest.

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pensile British  

/ pɛnˈsɪlɪtɪ, ˈpɛnsaɪl /

adjective

1. ornithol designating or building a hanging nest

   pensile birds

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Other Word Forms

• pensility noun

Etymology

Origin of pensile

1595–1605; < Latin pēnsilis hanging down, equivalent to pēns ( us ) past participle of pendēre to hang (equivalent to pend- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s ) + -ilis -ile

Example Sentences

Even better known than the birds, are the pensile nests which retain their positions on the swaying drooping branches all through the winter.

From The Bird Book Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs. by Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)

The large red monkey of Demerara is not a baboon, though it goes by that name, having a long pensile tail.

From Wanderings in South America by Waterton, Charles

He analyzes a pensile nest which he found in the woods—doubtless one of the vireo's—and fills ten pages with a minute description of the different materials which it contained.

From The Last Harvest by Burroughs, John

They are compact and rather deep, half pensile, that is to say, partly slung between the branches of the fork to which they are attached by bands of vegetable fibres.

From The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 by Hume, Allan Octavian

They stood upon bases, measuring 6 feet by 4 1/2 feet, ornamented carefully on each side with garlands hanging in festoons, literally, "garlands, pensile work."

From Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known Characters by Milligan, George