apprehends

verb

present tense third-person singular of apprehend
1
as in knows
to have a clear idea of do you apprehend the importance of this discovery?

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in arrests
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 apprehends John Early, as anyone encountering his work soon apprehends, chooses the latter. — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 7 June 2026 Though the team immediately apprehends a suspect, the Marshals end up taking criticism from both sides. — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026 Neighbors are now living in fear, looking on as ICE apprehends people of color across Minnesota. — Jason Rantala, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026 The team successfully seizes two tons of gold and apprehends the leader of the criminal network. — Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 14 Jan. 2026 Suppose the number is read in one case out of a hundred, and that the information reaches someone who apprehends the culprit in one case out of one thousand. — Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apprehends
  1. knows
  2. arrests
  3. understands
  4. seizes
  5. recognizes
  6. detains
  7. comprehends
  8. grabs
Verb
  • Anyone who has sat through a mandatory team-building exercise knows the difference between a ritual that binds and a program that irritates.
    — Julia Dhar, Time, 11 July 2026
  • The 28-year-old now returns to a club that already knows how to maximize his versatility.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
Definition of knows
Verb
  • Keith arrests our thinking, and cons us into suppressing our critical faculties with the same kind of internalized surveillance that philosopher Michel Foucault broke down to describe a prison’s use of the panopticon in Discipline and Punish.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
  • Devlin throws a punch at Stone when the chief arrests him for drunken driving.
    — Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026
Definition of arrests
Verb
  • Former Norway goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt understands the value of such an approach.
    — Don Riddell, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
  • Real thinking — the kind that understands a question, grasps its context and goes out to gather information before formulating a response.
    — Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of understands
Verb
  • Rhaenyra, queen of the Blacks, seizes the Iron Throne in King’s Landing with the support of Alicent, who has simply had enough of her unstable and terrible sons.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 13 July 2026
  • Trump seizes America’s 250th-birthday spotlight, headlining the Great American State Fair, hosting a UFC bout at the White House and promoting new passports, $250 bills and coins bearing his image.
    — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026
Definition of seizes
Verb
  • The African Union's Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy recognizes AI as a strategic enabler of economic transformation.
    — Babajide Ojuola, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • Disability Pride Month goes beyond commemoration of the ADA, however, and recognizes and celebrates the advocacy and gains of the disability rights movement and the disability community’s culture, resilience, and unique identity.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 July 2026
Definition of recognizes
Verb
  • Alligator Alcatraz houses a few hundred employees in trailers and detains about 650 male immigrants in large tents; until a few weeks ago, the number of those being detained was nearly 1,500.
    — Eric Schlosser, The Atlantic, 4 June 2026
  • What are your rights if ICE detains you?
    — Laura Daniella Sepulveda, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Definition of detains
Verb
  • In an oppositional reading of a media text, the audience comprehends that the message conflicts with or contradicts their personal experiences of society.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 May 2026
  • In the end, A Guardian and a Thief is a story that comprehends hunger more deeply than the world that produces it.
    — Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2025
Definition of comprehends
Verb
  • What a thrilling end to this match as Spain grabs a late winner to beat Belgium, 2-1.
    — Aleks Klosok, CNN Money, 10 July 2026
  • Once inside, she’s confronted by Tommy (James Eddie), who stupidly grabs her to escort her out.
    — William Earl, Variety, 2 July 2026
Definition of grabs

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apprehending
apprehends
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Cite this Entry

“Apprehends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apprehends. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on apprehends

Nglish: Translation of apprehends for Spanish Speakers

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