APPREHENSION • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Apprehension

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/ˌæprɪhˈɛnʃən/ Listen

noun

Apprehension n.

1.

The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension.

2.

The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the felon, after his apprehension, escaped.

3.

The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception. "Simple apprehension denotes no more than the soul's naked intellection of an object."

4.

Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea. Note: In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our apprehension, the facts prove the issue. "To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension."

5.

The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man of dull apprehension.

6.

Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil. "After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life."

Synonyms: Apprehension, Alarm. Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand. Apprehension is calmer and more permanent; alarm is more agitating and transient.

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Etymology of 'Apprehension'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Apprehension" Quotes from Famous Books

... still continue, though the apprehension of some of the rioters who destroyed the Pontardulais gate has had some effect. The following distressing scene is reported in ...

— The Economist - Volume 1, No. 3 • Various

... coronation of his elder brother, the student and priest Maha Mongkut, he was called by the unanimous voice of "the king and council" to be Second King; and throughout his subordinate reign his sagacious and alert inquiry, his quick apprehension, his energetic and liberal spirit of improvement, engaged the admiration of foreigners; whilst his handsome person, his generous temper, his gallant preference for the skilful and the brave, his enthusiasm and princely profusion in sports and ...

— The English Governess At The Siamese Court • Anna Harriette Leonowens

... way or other facilitated his escape; but of this he could obtain no proof, nor, had he been able to do so, would it have been for his own interest to expose the Count, whom he was desirous, on the contrary, to conciliate. It was a vague and undefined apprehension of some attempt at a rescue, that had led him, at so late an hour on the night of the escape, to prowl in ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846 • Various

... to be a beggar from house to house, in the most abject state of poverty. His companions in mendicity were his brother John and his cousin Julien. He had been given lodging out of charity in a neighbouring village, but before his apprehension he had been absent for ...

— The Book of Were-Wolves • Sabine Baring-Gould

... performed. The cap was then withdrawn. There was nothing terrific in the aspect of the deceased. I recognized the features of the young man who had been so wildly, so violently agitated, when about to suffer. Now pain was at an end, apprehension was no more, and he seemed in the enjoyment of sweet repose. His countenance was tranquil as that of a sleeping infant, and happier than the infant, his rest was not in danger of being disturbed. While reflecting on the change which a single ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. - Volume 10, No. 271, Saturday, September 1, 1827. • Various

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