prehension

1. The act of grasping or seizing.
2. 1. Apprehension by the senses.
   2. Understanding.

[Latin prehēnsiō, prehēnsiōn-, from prehēnsus, past participle of prehendere, to seize.]

The act of grasping or seizing.

The act of grasping. Common usage is grasping with the mouth for food.

• difficult p. — needs to be classified into difficulty in approaching food, paralysis of the tongue or jaws, malapposition of incisor teeth, pain in the mouth, foreign body in the mouth, and defective development of the lips or tongue.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the act of gripping something firmly with the hands
  Synonyms: grasping, taking hold, seizing