Part 485

Preg"nan*cy (?), n. 1. The condition of being pregnant; the state of being with young.

2. Figuratively: The quality of being heavy with important contents, issue, significance, etc.; unusual consequence or capacity; fertility. Fuller.

Preg"nant (?), a. [L. praegnans, -antis; prae before + genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. prÈgnant. See Gender, 2d Kin.]

1. Being with young, as a female; having conceived; great with young; breeding; teeming; gravid; preparing to bring forth.

2. Heavy with important contents, significance, or issue; full of consequence or results; weighty; as, pregnant replies. " A pregnant argument." Prynne. " A pregnant brevity." E. Everett.

3. Full of promise; abounding in ability, resources, etc.; as, a pregnant youth. [Obs.] Evelyn.

Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.

Shak.

Pregnant construction (Rhet.), one in which more is implied than is said; as, the beasts trembled forth from their dens, that is, came forth trembling with fright.

Preg"nant, n. A pregnant woman. [R.] Dunglison.

Preg"nant, a. [F. prenant taking. Cf. Pregnable.] Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt. [Obs.] " Pregnant to good pity." Shak.

Preg"nant*ly, adv. In a pregnant manner; fruitfully; significantly.

Preg"nant*ly, adv. Unresistingly; openly; hence, clearly; evidently. [Obs.] Shak.

Pre"gra*vate (?), v. t. [L. praegravatus, p. p. of praegravare to be heavy upon, fr. praegravis very heavy.] To bear down; to depress. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

Pre*grav"i*tate (?), v. i. To descend by gravity; to sink. [R.] Boyle.

Pre*gus"tant (?), a. [L. praegustans, p. pr. of praegustare to taste beforehand; prae before + gustare to taste.] Tasting beforehand; having a foretaste. [R.] Ed. Rev.

Pre`gus*ta"tion (?), n. The act of tasting beforehand; foretaste. [R.] Dr. Walker (1678).

||Pre*hal"lux (?), n. [NL. See Pre- , and Hallux.] (Anat.) An extra ||first toe, or rudiment of a toe, on the preaxial side of the hallux.

Pre*hend" (&?;), v. t. [L. prehendere. See Prehensile.] To lay hold of; to seize. [Obs.] Middleton.

Pre*hen"si-ble (?), a. [Cf. F. prÈhensible.] Capable of being seized.

Pre*hen"sile (?), a. [L. prehensus, p. p. of prehendere to lay hold of, seize; pre- (equiv. to prae before) + hendere (in comp.), akin to E. get: cf. F. prÈhensile. See Get, and cf. Prison, Prize, n.] Adapted to seize or grasp; seizing; grasping; as, the prehensile tail of a monkey.

Pre*hen"sion (?), n. [L. prehensio; cf. F. prÈhension. See Prehensile.] The act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping, as with the hand or other member.

Pre*hen"so*ry (?), a. Adapted to seize or grasp; prehensile.

Pre`his*tor"ic (?), a. Of or pertaining to a period before written history begins; as, the prehistoric ages; prehistoric man.

Prehn"ite (?), n. [So called from the German Colonel Prehn, who first found it.] (Min.) A pale green mineral occurring in crystalline aggregates having a botryoidal or mammillary structure, and rarely in distinct crystals. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime.

Prehn*it"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a tetrabasic acid of benzene obtained as a white crystalline substance; -- probably so called from the resemblance of the wartlike crystals to the mammillÊ on the surface of prehnite.

Pre`in*des"ig*nate (?), a. (Logic.) Having no sign expressive of quantity; indefinite. See Predesignate.

Pre*in`dis*pose" (&?;), v. t. To render indisposed beforehand. Milman.