pensile
Americanadjective
-
hanging, as the nests of certain birds.
-
building a hanging nest.
adjective
Other Word Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Hail, pensile gem, that thus can softly gild The starry coronal of quiet eve!
From Heart Utterances at Various Periods of a Chequered Life by Gurney, Eliza Paul
My plumy pairs, in gay embroidery dressed, Form with ingenious skill the pensile nest; To Love's sweet notes attune the listening dell, And Echo sounds her soft symphonious shell.
From The Actress in High Life An Episode in Winter Quarters by Bowen, Sue Petigru
The nest was pensile, like that of the Baltimore Oriole.
From Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 1, No. 2 February, 1897 by Various
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
