comprehension

noun

com·pre·hen·sion | \ ˌkäm-pri-ˈhen(t)-shən

, -prē-\

Definition of comprehension

1a : the act or action of grasping with the intellect : understanding children who have difficulty with comprehension of spoken language What the artist actually needs is comprehension of his aims and ideals by men he respects …— H. L. Mencken

b : knowledge gained by comprehending tests that measure the students' comprehension in math She carried on with full comprehension of the risk involved.

c : the capacity for understanding fully mysteries that are beyond our comprehension The war caused suffering beyond comprehension.

2a : the act or process of comprising the comprehension of all the denominations into one Church

b : the faculty or capability of including : comprehensiveness the broad comprehension of the word "animal"

3 : connotation sense 3

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Examples of comprehension in a Sentence

The students showed excellent reading comprehension. the president's comprehension of the current situation in the Middle East

Recent Examples on the Web

As artificial intelligence evolves, the technical flaws should improve, thanks to better data and language comprehension models, experts say. — Daniela Hernandez, WSJ, "Meet the Chatbots Providing Mental Health Care," 9 Aug. 2018 The most recent iteration of these tests was given to about half a million students in a total of 71 countries and, so, provides a trans-national measure of students' skills in math, science, and reading comprehension. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Women go into science careers more often in countries without gender equality," 19 Feb. 2018 Duff How denying investment and job creation is going to help anybody is beyond my comprehension. — Wsj Staff, WSJ, "Readers React to Amazon’s New York Reversal," 14 Feb. 2019 According to Kenzie, the teacher showed a YouTube clip about Marie Laveau, and then began asking students comprehension questions about the film, staying in character the whole time. — Teen Vogue, "New Mexico Teacher Accused of Calling a Native Student a "Bloody Indian" and Cutting Another's Hair on Halloween," 3 Dec. 2018 Supplemental math classes were being considered for students who either need extra help or show signs of quick comprehension. — Priscella Vega, latimes.com, "Advanced math classes will continue in Newport-Mesa middle schools," 11 July 2018 When Roberts showed no sign of comprehension, Lili persisted. — Kevin Conley, Town & Country, "Too Much Horsepower," 24 Dec. 2012 Hudson is in the eighth grade, but his reading comprehension lags about four years behind. — Kerry Cromwell, Good Housekeeping, "My Little Boy Was Just 7 Years Old When He Had a Catastrophic Stroke," 26 July 2018 Sanders and Acosta then went back and forth, until Sanders insulted Acosta's comprehension skills. — Callum Borchers, Washington Post, "‘You’re a parent!’ Things got personal in the White House briefing room.," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'comprehension.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.