Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To take into custody; arrest.
- intransitive verb To grasp mentally; understand: synonym: understand.
- intransitive verb To become conscious of, as through the emotions or senses; perceive.
- intransitive verb Archaic To anticipate with worry or dread.
- intransitive verb To understand something.
from The Century Dictionary.
- . To lay hold of; seize upon; take possession of.
- To take into custody; make prisoner; arrest by legal warrant or authority.
- To take into the mind; seize or grasp mentally; take cognizance of.
- To imagine, especially an object of desire or dread; form a concrete conception of: frequently opposed to comprehend or attend.
- To understand; take an intelligent view of.
- To anticipate; expect; especially, to entertain suspicion or fear of.
- To hold in opinion; be of opinion concerning. See extract.
- Synonyms To catch, arrest, capture.
- Apprehend, Comprehend; to conceive, perceive, see, know. “We apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The great mystery, for instance, of the Holy Trinity—we lay hold upon it (ad prehendo), we hang upon it, our souls live by it; but we do not take it all in, we do not comprehend it. It belongs to the idea of God that he may be apprehended though not comprehended by his reasonable creatures; he has made them to know him, though not to know him all, to apprehend though not to comprehend him.” Trench.
- To fear, dread, anticipate (with fear).
- To imagine; form a concrete conception of anything; have intellectual perception; catch the idea or meaning.
- To believe or be of opinion, but without positive certainty: used as a modest way of introducing an opinion: as, all this is true, but we apprehend it is not to the purpose.
- To be apprehensive; be in fear of a future evil.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
- intransitive verb To be apprehensive; to fear.
- transitive verb Archaic To take or seize; to take hold of.
- transitive verb Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
- transitive verb To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
- transitive verb obsolete To know or learn with certainty.
- transitive verb To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, archaic To take or seize; to take hold of.
- verb transitive To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
- verb transitive To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
- verb transitive To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
- verb intransitive To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
- verb intransitive To be apprehensive; to fear.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb anticipate with dread or anxiety
- verb get the meaning of something
- verb take into custody
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word apprehend.
Examples
-
[1] I wish, however, to march on solid ground; and the only tender place I as yet apprehend, is contained in that sentence of Robert's letter to you, where he says — 'I took the manuscript of the Farmer's Boy to your
Letter 388 2009
-
The central concept I want them to apprehend is the connection between the manner in which God created us, and His will that we participate in the life of the Trinity through grace.
"Catholicism, properly understood ... is one of the sexiest of the world's religions." 2009
-
How can we be happy when the most important this we apprehend is left to one side by the prevailing Metaphysics?
Archive 2007-12-23 Newmania 2007
-
How can we be happy when the most important this we apprehend is left to one side by the prevailing Metaphysics?
A Hopeful New Year Newmania 2007
-
The writer's object, we apprehend, is to sketch the habits and manners of both Northern and
Current Literature 1864
-
Let your readers determine from my statement whether the charge of cruelty can he established: -- The rations which I saw distributed to the prisoners were in every respect the same as those issued to the Southern soldier; possibly the former may get more fresh meat, and that, I apprehend, is scarcely a ground for objection.
Camp of Federal Prisoners on Belle Isle, Richmond, Virginia 1864
-
He had nothing to apprehend from the German empire, which was then contending against the Turks on the Danube.
The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 1 Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay 1829
-
And this, we apprehend, is what very few first performances can pretend to.
Review of The Brides' Tragedy Barry Cornwall 1823
-
'Now,' said Dr X —, looking at his watch, 'it will be eight o'clock by the time we get to Upper Grosvenor-street, and Lady Anne will probably have waited dinner for us about two hours, which I apprehend is sufficient to try the patience of any woman but
Belinda 1801
-
Barbarians, who no longer had any resistance to apprehend from the scattered and vanquished troops of the East, spread themselves over the face of a fertile and cultivated country, as far as the confines of Italy and the Hadriatic Sea.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206
brobbins commented on the word apprehend
conceive, intellect
July 22, 2009