Definition of apprehension
1 : suspicion or fear especially of future evil : foreboding an atmosphere of nervous apprehension
2 : seizure by legal process : arrest apprehension of a criminal
3a : the act or power of perceiving or comprehending something a person of dull apprehensionb : the result of apprehending something mentally : conception according to popular apprehension
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Examples of apprehension in a Sentence
The thought of moving to a new city fills me with apprehension.
an increased number of apprehensions
Recent Examples of apprehension from the Web
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He was turned over to Orange police and taken to the Beachwood Jail without incident, with the victim being notified of his apprehension.
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Meanwhile, apprehensions of unaccompanied minors continue to rise, with most occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Turkey would need to submit a diplomatic request for Kanter's apprehension under the terms of the current extradition treaty between the two countries.
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This is what the police are reporting: The suspect was able to avoid apprehension and escaped on all fours.
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With a judicial success rate in the apprehension and prosecution of journalists’ killers at under two per cent, many see a pattern of official complacency, and, in some cases, of complicity.
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Need a primer on all the ways our apprehensions about the Internet have manifested into big screen tropes?
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Elliot Madison faces charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'apprehension'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Latin Helps Build Apprehension
The Latin verb prehendere really grabs our attention. It means "to grasp" or "to seize," and it is an ancestor of various English words. It teamed up with the prefix ad- (which takes the form ap- before p and means "to," "toward," or "near") to form apprehendere, the Latin predecessor of our words apprehension, apprehend, and apprehensive. When prehendere joined the prefix com- ("with," "together," "jointly"), Latin got comprehendere, and English eventually got comprehend, comprehension, and comprehensive. Prehendere also gave us the words comprise, prehensile ("adapted for seizing or grasping"), prison, reprehend, and reprise, among others.
Origin and Etymology of apprehension
Middle English, from Late Latin apprehension-, apprehensio, from Latin apprehendere —see apprehend
First Known Use: 14th century
APPREHENSION Defined for Kids
Law Dictionary
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See words that rhyme with apprehension Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for apprehension Spanish Central: Translation of apprehension Nglish: Translation of apprehension for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of apprehension for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about apprehension
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