prehensile
Able to grip
Prehensile describes body parts adapted for grasping or holding, especially by wrapping around objects.
A monkey's prehensile tail can grip branches like a fifth limb.
The word applies to any appendage capable of seizing: prehensile claws, prehensile lips.
Figuratively, prehensile suggests grasping or acquisitive tendencies: his prehensile ambition.
Rear animal appendage
- appendageProjecting body part
- thumbShort opposable digit
- fingersAppendages of the hand
- opposableAble to be resisted
tongue · foot · lip · claws · digits · extremity · limb · tentacle
Tailed primate mammal
- chameleonLizard altering its pigmentation
- opossumAmerican pouch-bearing mammal
- seahorseSmall fish, vertical swimmer
- kinkajouTree-dwelling procyonid mammal
pangolin · spider monkey · howler monkey · capuchin · coati · skink · gecko · python
Secure manual hold
- graspSeize or understand
- clutchMechanism linking engine to gearbox
- seizeTake suddenly, forcibly
- holdMaintain in grasp
clasp · clench · squeeze · pinch · catch · snatch · curl · wrap
Ascending by physical effort
- swingingMoving in arcs
- brachiationArboreal arm-swinging movement
- hangingExecution by noose
- perchingResting while gripping
balancing · tree-dwelling · canopy · branch · vine · trunk · rainforest · jungle
Species changing over generations
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- biomechanicsScience of organism movement
- functionalityPractical operational capacity
- versatilityCapacity for varied applications
specialization · survival · foraging · feeding · acquisition · advantage · development · modification
tail
Rear animal appendage
opposable · tongue · foot · lip · claws · digits · extremity · limb · tentacle · proboscis
monkey
Tailed primate mammal
- chameleonLizard altering its pigmentation
- opossumAmerican pouch-bearing mammal
- seahorseSmall fish, vertical swimmer
kinkajou · pangolin · spider monkey · howler monkey · capuchin · coati · skink · gecko · python · boa
grip
Secure manual hold
hold · clasp · clench · squeeze · pinch · catch · snatch · curl · wrap · coil
climbing
Ascending by physical effort
- swingingMoving in arcs
- brachiationArboreal arm-swinging movement
- hangingExecution by noose
perching · balancing · tree-dwelling · canopy · branch · vine · trunk · rainforest · jungle · forest
evolution
Species changing over generations
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- biomechanicsScience of organism movement
- functionalityPractical operational capacity
versatility · specialization · survival · foraging · feeding · acquisition · advantage · development · modification · trait
- primate traitsopposable thumbs, grasping hands, binocular vision, arboreal, simian
prehensilerigid
Unable to bend
inflexible · stiff · immobile · fixed · unarticulated
- prehensile tailTail adapted for gripping
comprehension, comprehensive, apprehension, apprehensive, incomprehensible, apprehensiveness, apprehensively, misapprehension, incomprehensibly