Apprehend

English

Verb

Apprehend (third-person singular simple present Apprehends, present participle Apprehending, simple past and past participle Apprehended)

(transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
Hence: (transitive) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.
(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.
(transitive) To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
(intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
(intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.

Adverbs for Apprehend

readily; imperfectly; nervously; tremblingly; acutely; undisguisedly; clearly; distinctly; fearfully; vaguely; gnawingly.

Thesaurus

absorb; accept; anticipate; appreciate; arrest; assimilate; be acquainted with; be afraid; be apprised of; be aware of; be cognizant of; be conscious of; be conversant with; be informed; be sensible of; be with one; bode; bust; capture; catch; catch on; cognize; collar; compass; comprehend; conceive; conceptualize; cotton to; croak; detain; dig; digest; discern; divine; dread; experience; eye askance; fathom; fear; feel; follow; forebode; foreknow; forewarn; get; get hold of; get the drift; get the idea; get the picture; grab; grasp; have; have a premonition; have a presentiment; have information about; have it taped; have knowledge of; have qualms; hear; ken; know; learn; look black; lower; make an arrest; make out; master; menace; misgive; nab; net; penetrate; perceive; pick up; pinch; portend; possess; preapprehend; prehend; prevision; pull in; put under arrest; read; realize; recognize; respond; respond to stimuli; run in; savvy; see; seize; seize the meaning; sense; sit upon thorns; smell; stand aghast; take; take captive; take in; take into custody; take prisoner; taste; threaten; touch; tumble to; twig; understand; visualize; warn; wot; wot of

Etymology

From Old French apprehender (French: appréhender), from Latin apprehendere.

Pronunciation

(US) IPA: /æ.pɹiˈhɛnd/

Notes

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 apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings.