Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Apprehension
1.
The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure;
as, the hand is an organ of
. apprehension
Sir T. Browne.
2.
The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest;
as, the felon, after his
. apprehension
, escaped3.
The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception.
Simple
apprehension
denotes no more than the soul’s naked intellection of an object. Glanvill.
4.
Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
☞ 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 apprehension, the facts prove the issue.
To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but
apprehension
. South.
5.
The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding;
as, a man of dull
. apprehension
6.
Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil.
After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small
apprehension
for his own life. Addison.
Syn. –
Apprehension
, Alarm
. Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand. Apprehension is calmer and more permanent; alarm is more agitating and transient.
Webster 1828 Edition
Apprehension
APPREHEN'SION
,Noun.
1.
The act of taking or arresting; as, the felon, after his apprehension escaped.2.
The mere contemplation of things without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; the operation of the mind in contemplating ideas, without comparing them with others, or referring them to external objects; simple intellection.3.
An inadequate or imperfect idea, as when the word is applied to our knowledge of God.4.
Opinion; conception; sentiments. In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty.To be false, and to be thought false, is all one, in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension.
In our apprehension, the facts prove the issue.
5.
The faculty by which new ideas are conceived; as, a man of dull apprehension.6.
Fear; suspicion; the prospect of future evil, accompanied with uneasiness of mind.Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life.