Part 573

<h1>Apprehend</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hend"</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To be apprehensive; to fear.</def>

<blockquote>It is worse to <b>apprehend</b> than to suffer. <i>Rowe.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Apprehender</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hend"er</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>One who apprehends.</def>

<h1>Apprehensibiity</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hen`si*bi"i*ty</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The quality of being apprehensible.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<i>De Quincey.</i>

<h1>Apprehensible</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hen"si*ble</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>apprehensibilis</ets>. See <er>Apprehend</er>.]</ety> <def>Capable of being apprehended or conceived.</def> "<i>Apprehensible</i> by faith." <i>Bp. Hall</i>. -- <wordforms><wf>Ap`*pre*hen"si*bly</wf>, <tt>adv.</tt></wordforms>

<h1>Apprehension</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hen"sion</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>apprehensio</ets>: cf. F. <ets>appr\'82hension</ets>. See <er>Apprehend</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; <as>as, the hand is an organ of <ex>apprehension</ex></as>.</def>

<i>Sir T. Browne.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; <as>as, the felon, after his <ex>apprehension</ex>, escaped</as>.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception.</def>

<blockquote>Simple <b>apprehension</b> denotes no more than the soul's naked intellection of an object. <i>Glanvill.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.</def>

<note>&hand; In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our <i>apprehension</i>, the facts prove the issue.</note>

<blockquote>To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but <b>apprehension</b>. <i>South.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; <as>as, a man of dull <ex>apprehension</ex></as>.</def>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil.</def>

<blockquote>After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small <b>apprehension</b> for his own life. <i>Addison.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- <er>Apprehension</er>, <er>Alarm</er>.</syn> <usage> <i>Apprehension</i> springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; <i>alarm</i> arises from danger when announced as near at hand. <i>Apprehension</i> is calmer and more permanent; <i>alarm</i> is more agitating and transient.</usage>

<h1>Apprehensive</h1> <Xpage=74>

<hw>Ap`pre*hen"sive</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[Cf. F. <ets>appr\'82hensif</ets>. See <er>Apprehend</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Capable of apprehending, or quick to do so; apt; discerning.</def>

<blockquote>It may be pardonable to imagine that a friend, a kind and <b>apprehensive</b> . . . friend, is listening to our talk. <i>Hawthorne.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Knowing; conscious; cognizant.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>