Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Possible to oppose or resist.
  • adjective Capable of moving opposite to and touching one or more other digits of the same hand or foot in a way that allows grasping.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Capable of being so placed as to be or to act in opposition.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Capable of being opposed or resisted.
  • adjective Capable of being placed opposite something else.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Capable of being opposed or resisted.
  • adjective Capable of being placed opposite something else.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective capable of being placed opposite to something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

oppose +‎ -able

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Examples

  • That's what they used to call the opposable thumb.

    The Fulcrum of Civilization John 2008

  • In consequence of the proportions and mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed "opposable"; in other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be brought into contact with the extremities of any of the fingers; a property upon which the possibility of our carrying into effect the conceptions of the mind so largely depends.

    On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals Thomas Henry Huxley 1860

  • In consequence of the proportions and mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed "opposable"; in other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be brought into contact with the extremities of any of the fingers; a property upon which the possibility of our carrying into effect the conceptions of the mind so largely depends.

    Lectures and Essays Thomas Henry Huxley 1860

  • Many animals, primates and others, also have some kind of opposable thumb or toe.

    Clipmarks | Live Clips 2009

  • Many animals, primates and others, also have some kind of opposable thumb or toe.

    Clipmarks | Live Clips 2009

  • \par The unicorn Ancestors were willing enough to be bred into a race that would have some of the strengths, such as opposable thumbs, of their former enemies.

    Massage 2010

  • Death by mutated animals with opposable thumbs -- Earth A.D., or "After Disaster," is a future Earth inhabited by intelligent, mutated animals and what's left of the Statue of Liberty -- and a lone human.

    Six by 6 | Only the end of the world again | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment 2009

  • But a dog, clutched by the neck from the back, can never be a match for two men, gifted with the intelligence and deftness of men, each of them two-handed with four fingers and an opposable thumb to each hand.

    CHAPTER XVI 2010

  • Just keep in mind Elmo doesn't have opposable thumbs.

    Meredith Fineman: Fifty First (J)Dates: (Witch)Crafting the Perfect Halloween Get-Up: A Primer. Meredith Fineman 2010

  • I think it has something to do with opposable thumbs!

    Podcast 2009

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