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apprehend

7 dictionary results for: apprehend

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pre·hend

[ap-ri-hend] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to take into custody; arrest by legal warrant or authority: The police apprehended the burglars.

2.	to grasp the meaning of; understand, esp. intuitively; perceive.

3.	to expect with anxiety, suspicion, or fear; anticipate: apprehending violence.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to understand.

5.	to be apprehensive, suspicious, or fearful; fear.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME apprehenden < L apprehendere to grasp, equiv. to ap- ap-¹ + prehendere to seize (pre- pre- + -hendere to grasp)

]

—Related forms

ap·pre·hend·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pre·hend   (āp'rĭ-hěnd') Pronunciation Key
v.   ap·pre·hend·ed, ap·pre·hend·ing, ap·pre·hends

v.   tr.

To take into custody; arrest: apprehended the murderer.
To grasp mentally; understand: a candidate who apprehends the significance of geopolitical issues.
To become conscious of, as through the emotions or senses; perceive.

v. intr.
To understand something.

[Middle English apprehenden, from Old French apprehender, from Latin apprehendere, to seize : ad-, ad- + prehendere, to grasp; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

ap'pre·hend'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs denote perception of the nature and significance of something. Apprehend denotes both mental and intuitive awareness: "Intelligence is quickness to apprehend" (Alfred North Whitehead).
Both comprehend and understand stress complete realization and knowledge: "To comprehend is to know a thing as well as that thing can be known" (John Donne). "No one who has not had the responsibility can really understand what it is like to be President" (Harry S. Truman).
To grasp is to seize an idea firmly: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount" (Omar N. Bradley).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
apprehend

1398, from O.Fr. apprehender, from L. apprehendere "to take hold of, grasp," from ad- "to" + prehendere "to seize" (see prehensile). Metaphoric extension in L. to "seize with the mind," which was the sense of the word in O.Fr. Originally sense returned in meaning "to seize in the name of the law, arrest," recorded from 1548, which was probably taken directly from L. Apprehensive "anticipative of something adverse" first recorded 1633.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

apprehend
verb
1.	get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?" [syn: grok]
2.	take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals" [syn: collar]
3.	anticipate with dread or anxiety

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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ap·pre·hend
Pronunciation: "a-pr&-'hend
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Latin apprehendere to seize, arrest, from ad to + prehendere to seize
: ARREST

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Apprehend

Ap`pre*hend"\ ([a^]p`pr[-e]*h[e^]nd"), 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. chanda`nein to hold, contain, and E. get: cf. F. appr['e]hender. See Prehensile, Get.]

1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [Archaic]

We have two hands to apprehend it. --Jer. Taylor.

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. --Fuller.

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

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. --Beau. & Fl.

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

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

Syn: To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread.

Usage: 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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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. --Rowe.

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