apprehend

[ap·pre·hend]

To apprehend is to capture or arrest, as when the police try to apprehend criminals and bring them to justice. You also apprehend a concept when you understand it, grasping or capturing its meaning.

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To take or seize; to take hold of.

Verb
get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?"

Verb
take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals"

Verb
anticipate with dread or anxiety

v. t.
To take or seize; to take hold of.

v. t.
Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.

v. t.
To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.

v. t.
To know or learn with certainty.

v. t.
To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.

v. i.
To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.

v. i.
To be apprehensive; to fear.

Apprehend

Ap`pre*hend" , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Apprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Apprehending.] [L. apprehendere; ad + prehendere to lay hold of, seize; prae before + -hendere (used only in comp.); akin to Gr. to hold, contain, and E. get: cf. F. appr'82hender. See Prehensile, Get.] 1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [Archaic]

We have two hands to apprehended it.

2. Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal. 3. To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.

This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it.

The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.

4. To know or learn with certainty. [Obs.]

G. You are too much distrustful of my truth. E. Then you must give me leave to apprehend The means and manner how.

5. To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.

The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.

Syn. -- To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread. -- To Apprehend, Comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehended many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. "We may apprehended much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters." Trench.

Apprehend

Ap`pre*hend", v. i. 1. To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose. 2. To be apprehensive; to fear.

It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.

To take or seize; to take hold of.

To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.

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Usage Examples

Freedom from care and anxiety of mind is a blessing, which I apprehend such people enjoy in higher perfection than most others, and is of the utmost consequence.

There must be room for the imagination to exercise its powers we must conceive and apprehend a thousand things which we do not actually witness.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct form ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.

To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry.

If a person studies too much and exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension. For the powers of the body are all alike in this respect.