Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Capable of grasping or holding: Used primarily in zoology to describe body parts, especially tails, feet, or hands, that are adapted for seizing, gripping, or wrapping around objects.
   • Having a keen intellect; mentally grasping: Used figuratively to describe a mind that is quick to apprehend, understand, or grasp ideas or concepts.

Examples of Usage

• Literal (Zoological):

  • Monkeys use their prehensile tails to swing from branch to branch.
  • The animal's prehensile feet allow it to grasp food with ease.

• Figurative (Intellectual):

  • The professor has a prehensile mind, able to understand complex theories instantly.
  • Her prehensile intellect made her an excellent strategist.

Advanced Usage

• "Prehensile" vs. "Grasping": While both can describe the physical ability to hold, "prehensile" is the precise biological term. Figuratively, "grasping" often has a negative connotation of greed (e.g., a grasping person), whereas "prehensile" in intellectual contexts is generally positive, implying keen understanding.
  • The critic's prehensile analysis of the novel revealed layers of meaning others had missed.

Variants and Related Words

• Prehension (n): The act of grasping or seizing.
  • The prehension of the tool required fine motor skills.
• Prehensility (n): The quality of being prehensile.
  • The prehensility of its tail is crucial for the animal's survival.

Synonyms

• Grasping (for the physical sense).
• Acute (for the intellectual sense, e.g., an acute mind).
• Keen (for the intellectual sense, e.g., keen intellect).

Antonyms

• Non-prehensile (adj): Not adapted for grasping.
  • Humans have non-prehensile feet.
• Dull (for the intellectual sense, e.g., a dull mind).

Related Phrases and Usage Notes

• Prehensile tail: A very common collocation in zoology.
• Prehensile mind: A literary collocation to describe intellectual agility.
• Usage Note: The figurative use ("prehensile mind") is less common and more literary than the standard biological use. It should be used in contexts where a vivid, metaphorical description of intelligence is desired.

Adjective

1. immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth
   • they are avaricious and will do anything for money
   • casting covetous eyes on his neighbor's fields
   • a grasping old miser
   • grasping commercialism
   • greedy for money and power
   • grew richer and greedier
   • prehensile employers stingy with raises for their employees
2. having a keen intellect
   • poets--those gifted strangely prehensile men- A.T.Quiller-Couch
3. adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object
   • a monkey's prehensile tail