comprehension

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noun com·pre·hen·sion \ ˌkäm-pri-ˈhen(t)-shən , -prē- \

Definition of comprehension

1 a :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.

2 a :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 3

See comprehension defined for English-language learners

See comprehension defined for kids

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 of comprehension from the Web

The volume on the radio hadn’t been turned high enough, and communications from the pit were garbled beyond the point of comprehension.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "The agony and ecstasy of (grassroots) racing," 3 July 2017
Students are making gains in math and reading comprehension.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "A new kind of parent-teacher conference might be coming to your school," 19 June 2017
But after the Pacers have shown impossibly poor reading comprehension on words written between the lines, Paul George apparently has instructed his agent to write it in bold, and in all caps: BYE.

— gregg doyel, Indianapolis Star, "Doyel: Pacers finally get the message -- Paul George is gone," 18 June 2017
At this stage of his career, rich beyond comprehension and three NBA titles on his résumé, James possesses a singular goal.

— adam kilgore, The Denver Post, "LeBron James is still the best player in the world, but will he ever beat the Warriors again?," 13 June 2017
Twitter Facebook − + combob FakePresident • 25 days ago Your reading comprehension is reflective of your political affiliation.

— nick woltman, Twin Cities, "Protesters disrupt Met Council meeting over viral video of officer’s immigration question," 25 May 2017
The fact that such an unspeakable act can be committed at a place where innocent people — including so many young people — come together peacefully to enjoy music reflects a level of evil beyond comprehension.

— dan rys, Billboard, "Live Music After Manchester: Concert Business Faces Security Challenges Beyond Its Gates," 25 May 2017
The fact that such an unspeakable act can be committed at a place where innocent people — including so many young people — come together peacefully to enjoy music reflects a level of evil beyond comprehension.

— dan rys, The Hollywood Reporter, "Concert Business Faces Security Challenges After Manchester Attack," 25 May 2017
Weaknesses: There are a lot of questions here, beginning with Allen’s overall basketball comprehension.

— the si staff, SI.com, "2017 NBA Draft: Ranking The Best Bigs Available," 24 May 2017

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.