opposable, a.
(əˈpəʊzəb(ə)l)
[f. oppose v.2 + -able.]
1. Capable of being opposed, withstood, or placed in opposition (to). rare.
| 1667 [implied in unopposable]. 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) IV. 151 The application is either opposable or unopposable. 1829 ― Justice & Cod. Petit. 195 No arguments will be found opposable to it other than ungrounded assertions. |
2. Of a digit, esp. the thumb: Capable of being opposed to, or applied so as to meet, another.
| 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 442/2 Those [monkeys] of Africa and Asia have completely opposable thumbs on the fore-feet as well as on the hind. 1854 Owen Skel. & Teeth in Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat. I. 253 A freedom of the digits, with some opposable faculty in them. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent Man 129 A thumb is..a finger so arranged as to be opposable to the other fingers. |