prehensile

[ pri-hen-sil, -sahyl ]

See synonyms for prehensile on Thesaurus.com

adjective

adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something: a prehensile tail.
able to perceive quickly; having keen mental grasp.

greedy; grasping; avaricious.

Origin of prehensile

1781–85; <French préhensile (coined by Buffon), equivalent to Latin prehens(us) (see prehension) + French -ile-ile

Other words from prehensile

pre·hen·sil·i·ty [pree-hen-sil-i-tee], /ˌpri hɛnˈsɪl ɪ ti/, noun
non·pre·hen·sile, adjective
sub·pre·hen·sile, adjective
sub·pre·hen·sil·i·ty, noun

Words Nearby prehensile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use prehensile in a sentence

When given just a few cubes, the elephant picked them up with the prehensile tip of her trunk.
Engineers surprised by the power of an elephant’s trunk | Sid Perkins | June 23, 2021 | Science News For Students
When offered just a few cubes, the elephant picked them up with the prehensile tip of the trunk.
Newly recognized tricks help elephants suck up huge amounts of water | Sid Perkins | June 3, 2021 | Science News
The coaita has neither pouches on the sides of his jaws, nor callosities on the posteriors: he has a very long prehensile tail.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Their tail is prehensile, naked underneath at the extremity, and very bushy over every other part.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
His tail is not prehensile but flaccid, and half as long again as his head and body.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

They grasped things with the strong prehensile grasp of the infant, rather than with the clutch of the miser.
Humanly Speaking | Samuel McChord Crothers
The tall giraffe, with his prehensile lip, raised nearly twenty feet in the air, can browse upon these trees without difficulty.
Popular Adventure Tales | Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for prehensile

prehensile

/ (prɪˈhɛnsaɪl) /

adjective

adapted for grasping, esp by wrapping around a support: a prehensile tail

Origin of prehensile

C18: from French préhensile, from Latin prehendere to grasp

Derived forms of prehensile

prehensility (ˌpriːhɛnˈsɪlɪtɪ), 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

Scientific definitions for prehensile

prehensile

[ prē-hĕn′səl ]

Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object. The feet of many birds, the tails of monkeys, and the trunks of elephants are prehensile.

Browse