prehensile
/pri'hensail/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- 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
- 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
- having a keen intellect
- poets--those gifted strangely prehensile men- A.T.Quiller-Couch
- adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object
- a monkey's prehensile tail