| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| prehensile |
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| SYLLABICATION: | pre·hen·sile |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  pr -h n s l, -s l |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding, especially by wrapping around an object: a monkey's prehensile tail. 2. Having keen intellect; insightful. 3. Greedy; grasping. | | ETYMOLOGY: | French préhensile, from Latin prehnsus, past participle of prehendere, to grasp. See ghend- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | prehen·sili·ty (-s l-t) —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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