pregnable

[ preg-nuh-buhl ]
See synonyms for pregnable on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. capable of being taken or won by force: a pregnable fortress.

  2. open to attack; assailable: a pregnable argument.

Origin of pregnable

1
1400–50; late Middle English prenable<Middle French prenable, pregnable, equivalent to pren- (weak stem of prendre to seize, take <Latin pre(he)ndere;see prehension) + -able-able; -g- perhaps from obsolete expugnable (in same sense)

Other words from pregnable

  • preg·na·bil·i·ty, noun

Words Nearby pregnable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pregnable in a sentence

  • In another instant I was working my ramrod through the earthen roof of our air-tight, although scarcely pregnable citadel.

    Buckskin Mose | Buckskin Mose
  • A cute old soul was Biddy, and extensive the knowledge experience had given her of the pregnable points of general character.

    The Bunsby papers | John Brougham
  • The city was encircled by walls and fortifications of great strength and height, and scarcely pregnable even if accessible.

  • At the inhospitable silence they waxed restive; they assaulted and forced the pregnable barriers, and invaded the premises.

  • He did not know each man has his weak point, and that Mortomley's pregnable spot lay close to the colours himself had begotten.

    Mortomley's Estate, Vol. III (of 3) | Charlotte Elizabeth Lawson Cowan Riddell

British Dictionary definitions for pregnable

pregnable

/ (ˈprɛɡnəbəl) /


adjective
  1. capable of being assailed or captured

Origin of pregnable

1
C15 prenable, from Old French prendre to take, from Latin prehendere to lay hold of, catch

Derived forms of pregnable

  • pregnability, 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