prehensile
Americanadjective
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adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something.
a prehensile tail.
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able to perceive quickly; having keen mental grasp.
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greedy; grasping; avaricious.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prehensile
1781–85; < French préhensile (coined by Buffon), equivalent to Latin prehens ( us ) ( see prehension) + French -ile -ile
Explanation
Prehensile means "able to grasp" and often refers to such body parts as claws, feet, and tails. Elephants curl their prehensile noses around objects in order to pick them up. Prehensile is an adjective that comes from a French word for “grasped.” Humans and other primates (like monkeys, lemurs, and gorillas) have prehensile hands with curling fingers for grasping — a definite advantage over dogs, for instance, who can’t use a pencil when poetic inspiration strikes them. Prehensile can also mean "greedy" or "grasping for riches."
Vocabulary lists containing prehensile
The Hot Zone
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List 3
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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.
They have stiff white whiskers and a prehensile tail that’s as long as their body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The fossil lacked the reinforced bark-gnawing jaws and possessed a prehensile tail, making it appear more closely related to South American porcupines.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024
With their prehensile lips — they are distantly related to elephants — they grabbed the lettuce and nibbled.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2022
The prehensile tips of a regular harvestman’s legs, which Dr. Sharma compared to fingers with a hundred extra knuckles, were found to be under the control of another gene.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2021
It has no legs at all, just a prehensile tail coiled around the boom.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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.
