prehension
Americannoun
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the act of seizing or grasping.
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mental apprehension.
noun
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the act of grasping
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apprehension by the senses or the mind
Etymology
Origin of prehension
1525–35; < Latin prehēnsiōn- (stem of prehēnsiō ) a taking hold, equivalent to prehēns ( us ) (past participle of prehendere to seize, equivalent to pre- pre- + -hendere to grasp; akin to get ) + -iōn- -ion
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.
But last week Philadelphia's Dr. William Likoff somberly warned the AHA that the "mild coronary" may have more cause for ap prehension than for gratitude.
From Time Magazine Archive
But public ap prehension about the possible dangers of chemical insect killers is now shielding the hungry worms from DDT and other long-lasting poisons.
From Time Magazine Archive
The giraffe being endowed with an organ so exquisitely formed for prehension, instinctively puts it to use in a variety of ways, while in a state of confinement.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, July, 1851 by Various
Having for its function the narrowing of the orifice it surrounds, it acts during suction and in the prehension of food.
From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard
Human preference, both sexual and social, would tend to eliminate huge jaws and ferocious teeth when these were no longer needed as weapons of war or organs of prehension, &c.
From Are the Effects of Use and Disuse Inherited? An Examination of the View Held by Spencer and Darwin by Ball, W. P. (William Platt)
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.
