apprehending

verb

present participle of apprehend
1
as in knowing
to have a clear idea of do you apprehend the importance of this discovery?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in arresting
to take or keep under one's control by authority of law the agency charged with apprehending criminals who have violated federal law

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of apprehending Police posted video of the raid on social media, showing officers collecting evidence at the scene and apprehending the suspect. — CBS News, 13 June 2026 The Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office, United States Marshals Service and New Mexico State Police assisted in apprehending Jones, Hann said. — Caroline Zimmerman may 28, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2026 Federal immigration agents fanned across the city, apprehending workers at car washes, garment businesses, Home Depots and other locations. — Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2026 This arc is advancing slower than a glacier on Hoth, and Mando apprehending a couple of mid-level Imps on the big screen doesn't really fill the gap. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 25 May 2026 In the video shared exclusively with Fox News by ICE, officers are seen apprehending and arresting the Honduran national. — Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Danamarie McNicholl, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026 The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 compelled authorities in northern free states to assist in apprehending and returning those who escaped back to slavery. — Jeremy Mennis, The Conversation, 1 May 2026 Los Angeles ran from 2009 to 2023, centered around the high-stakes world of a division of NCIS that is charged with apprehending dangerous and elusive criminals, who pose a threat to the nation’s security. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 15 Apr. 2026 Putting them under military authority allowed troops to play an unprecedented role in apprehending undocumented immigrants; federal soldiers are generally barred from enforcing the law on domestic soil. — Agnel Philip, ProPublica, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apprehending
  1. knowing
  2. arresting
  3. understanding
  4. seizing
  5. recognizing
  6. detaining
  7. deciphering
  8. comprehending
Verb
  • Even worse was Paraguay and Australia, a pair of flawed teams playing to nil-nil in the last group match, knowing a tie sent both through to the knockout stage.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 July 2026
  • Both Diaz and Rodriguez expressed mixed feelings at the order to leave, knowing there was the possibility of other victims who could be saved.
    — Ella Moore July 9, Miami Herald, 9 July 2026
Definition of knowing
Verb
  • Mare of Easttown ended with (five-year-old spoiler alert) Mare, the police detective played by Winslet, arresting her best friend Lori’s son for the killing of a teenage girl and the two women looking for a way to repair their relationship.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2026
  • Farmworker fell from greenhouse roof during ICE raid Authorities were arresting dozens of farmworkers July 10 at Glass House Farms in Camarillo when Jaime Alanis fell from the roof of a greenhouse and broke his neck.
    — Russ Bynum, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
Definition of arresting
Verb
  • This tactical ideology is what gives Morocco an edge, understanding what works so well in Europe and adapting it to their player pool.
    — Chris Evans, Forbes.com, 9 July 2026
  • Those worries make sense, and understanding how bird flu spreads and what to watch for is the best way to protect your flock and yourself.
    — Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Definition of understanding
Verb
  • Kepler is clearly focused on seizing this second chance and putting his past behind him.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • The party has focused on driving down consumer costs, seizing on what polling shows is deep dissatisfaction about the economy and worries about affordability.
    — Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 5 July 2026
Definition of seizing
Verb
  • James Woods James Woods has consistently shared patriotic messages recognizing America's history, military and founding principles.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • The market is oversaturated, and Riley is a genius for not only recognizing that but realizing that all of these new DJs are going to need lawyers to negotiate their contracts.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 2 July 2026
Definition of recognizing
Verb
  • The community response team was named in honor of an Antioch man who died in December 2020, after experiencing a medical emergency while Antioch officers were detaining him during a mental health crisis.
    — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 2 July 2026
  • Local officials said police continued to search the home after detaining Ciarre and then found Nateal dead, according to Fox 5.
    — Sean Neumann, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
Definition of detaining
Verb
  • In 2023, the Vesuvius Challenge made its first award for deciphering the first letters, and the following year, the project awarded the grand prize of $700,000 for producing the first readable text.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 30 June 2026
  • Already, papyrologists are deciphering new texts that indicate other possible authors in the Herculaneum collection, including one of the leaders of the Stoic philosophy school.
    — Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 26 June 2026
Definition of deciphering
Verb
  • Hard sci-fi, meanwhile, leans into the fact that life evolving on other planets, under different conditions, and across different stretches of time will almost certainly take on forms so different from ours that comprehending them would be like imagining a new color.
    — Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
  • As for whether comprehending the wiring of the brain really demands techniques from the frontiers of theoretical physics, questions remain.
    — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 13 Jan. 2026
Definition of comprehending

Browse Nearby Words

apprehended
apprehending
apprehends
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Apprehending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apprehending. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on apprehending

Nglish: Translation of apprehending for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All