Apprehension

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /æp.rɪˈhÉ›n.ʃən/
• US IPA: /æ.pɹiˈhÉ›n.ʃən/

Origin

From Latin apprehensio, compare with French appréhension. See apprehend.

Full definition of apprehension

Noun

1. (rare) The physical act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure.
• 2006, Phil Senter, "Comparison of Forelimb Function between Deinonychus and Babiraptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridea)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 26, no. 4 (Dec.), p. 905:The wing would have been a severe obstruction to apprehension of an object on the ground.
2. (legal) The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest.
• 1855, Elizabeth_Gaskell, North and South, ch. 37:The warrant had been issued for his apprehension on the charge of rioting.
3. The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception.
• 1815, Percy_Bysshe_Shelley, "On Life," in A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays (1840 edition):We live on, and in living we lose the apprehension of life.
4. Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
• 1901, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Penelope's English Experiences, ch. 8:We think we get a kind of vague apprehension of what London means from the top of a 'bus better than anywhere else.
5. The faculty by which ideas are conceived or by which perceptions are grasped; understanding.
• 1854, Charles_Dickens, Hard Times, ch. 7:Strangers of limited information and dull apprehension were sometimes observed not to know what a Powler was.
6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; dread or fear at the prospect of some future ill.
• 1846, Herman_Melville, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, ch. 32:Every circumstance which evinced the savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the fearful apprehensions that consumed me.

Usage notes

Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand. Apprehension is less agitated and more persistent; alarm is more agitated and transient.

Synonyms

• (anticipation of unfavorable things) alarm

Antonyms

• inapprehension