Search

to take into custody; arrest by legal warrant or authority:
the police apprehended the burglars.
to grasp the meaning of; understand, especially intuitively; perceive.
to expect with anxiety, suspicion, or fear; antic-p-te:
apprehending violence.
to understand.
to be , suspicious, or fearful; fear.
contemporary examples

finally, even if the court did decide to pursue charges, it would be unable to apprehend wanted suspects.
who’s afraid of the icc? mark leon goldberg november 27, 2012

two men who tried to apprehend the shooter were threatened by the gun as well.
a murder in wichita joe stumpe may 31, 2009

as the oss pieced together the operation bernhard network, it made plans to apprehend those partic-p-nts not already in custody.
on the trail of n-z- counterfeiters dr. kevin c. ruffner september 19, 2014

in the script i worked on, a man pursues a woman in order to apprehend her husband.
alfred hitchc-ck’s fade to black: the great director’s final days david freeman december 12, 2014

somebody yanks chan and elbows him and he is momentarily distracted trying to apprehend his -ssailant.
protesters slimed this good samaritan cop michael daly december 15, 2014

historical examples

the judicious reader will apprehend that i allude to the persons called day scholars.
the parent’s -ssistant maria edgeworth

“much the same, i apprehend, as to the rich,” answered m’leod.
tales and novels, volume 4 (of 10) maria edgeworth

i apprehend no immediate difficulty with the new subah, although ’tis true there have been little vexations.
in clive’s command herbert strang

if it be for what i apprehend it to be, life will not be supportable upon the terms.
clarissa, volume 2 (of 9) samuel richardson

i was commissioned by the king to apprehend the earl of huntingdon.
maid marian thomas love peac-ck

verb
(transitive) to arrest and escort into custody; seize
to perceive or grasp mentally; understand
(transitive) to await with fear or anxiety; dread
v.

mid-14c., “to grasp in the senses or mind,” from old french aprendre (12c.) “teach; learn; take, grasp; acquire,” or directly from latin apprehendere “to take hold of, grasp,” from ad- “to” + prehendere “to seize” (see prehensile). metaphoric extension to “seize with the mind” took place in latin, and was the sole sense of cognate old french aprendre (modern french apprendre “to learn, to be informed about;” also cf. apprentice). original sense returned in english in meaning “to seize in the name of the law, arrest,” recorded from 1540s, which use probably was taken directly from latin. related: apprehended; apprehending.