APPREHEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does apprehend mean? 

• APPREHEND (verb)
  The verb APPREHEND has 3 senses:

1. get the meaning of something

2. take into custody

3. anticipate with dread or anxiety

  Familiarity information: APPREHEND used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPREHEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they apprehend    ... he / she / it apprehends   
Past simple: apprehended   
Past participle: apprehended   
-ing form: apprehending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get the meaning of something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

apprehend; compass; comprehend; dig; get the picture; grasp; grok; savvy

Context example:

Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?

Hypernyms (to "apprehend" is one way to...):

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "apprehend"):

figure (understand)

catch on; cotton on; get it; get onto; get wise; latch on; tumble; twig (understand, usually after some initial difficulty)

intuit (know or grasp by intuition or feeling)

digest (arrange and integrate in the mind)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

apprehender (a person who knows or apprehends)

apprehensible (capable of being apprehended or understood)

apprehension (the cognitive condition of someone who understands)

apprehensive (quick to understand)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take into custody

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

apprehend; arrest; collar; cop; nab; nail; pick up

Context example:

the police nabbed the suspected criminals

Hypernyms (to "apprehend" is one way to...):

clutch; prehend; seize (take hold of; grab)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

apprehender (a person who seizes or arrests (especially a person who seizes or arrests in the name of justice))

apprehension (the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Anticipate with dread or anxiety

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

apprehend; quail at

Hypernyms (to "apprehend" is one way to...):

anticipate; look for; look to (be excited or anxious about)

"Apprehend" entails doing...:

dread; fear (be afraid or scared of; be frightened of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

apprehender (a person who knows or apprehends)

apprehension (painful expectation)

apprehension (fearful expectation or anticipation)

apprehensive (in fear or dread of possible evil or harm)

apprehensive (mentally upset over possible misfortune or danger etc)

 Context examples 

“I apprehend you never supposed my worldly circumstances to be very good,” replied the assistant.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This did not at all satisfy him, for he said quickly:—But I fear, Dr. Seward, that you hardly apprehend my wish.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In the past White Fang had experienced delayed punishments, and he apprehended that such a one was about to befall him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Is the danger you apprehended last night gone by now, sir?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“I have inquired at every point where it might be, and I am sure that there is no danger to be apprehended.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They apprehended my breaking loose; that my diet would be very expensive, and might cause a famine.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The servant instantly showed it to one of the others, who, without saying a word to any of the family, went to a magistrate; and, upon their deposition, Justine was apprehended.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In every other respect, in looking around her, or penetrating forward, she saw more to distrust and to apprehend.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

That she is a gentleman's daughter, is indubitable to me; that she associates with gentlemen's daughters, no one, I apprehend, will deny.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I apprehend he will not have less than seven hundred a year.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)