How do you use the word "apprehend" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "apprehend" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "apprehend": The police expect to apprehend the robber before nightfall. I sometimes apprehend that there will be some difficulty.

Apprehend Meaning

/ˌæpɹɪˈhɛnd/

Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo be or become aware of (something); to perceive.

verbTo acknowledge the existence of (something); to recognize.

Sentence Examples

The police expect to apprehend the robber before nightfall.

I sometimes apprehend that there will be some difficulty.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

dig nail collar

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The police quickly moved to ____ the suspect before he could escape through the back alley.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The police were finally able to ____ the suspect after a long chase.

Word Origin & History

From Late Middle English apprehenden (“to grasp, take hold of; to comprehend; to learn”), from Old French apprehender (modern French appréhender (“to apprehend; to catch; to dread”)), from Latin apprehendere, adprehendere, the present active infinitive of apprehendō, adprehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, take; to apprehend, arrest; to comprehend, understand; to embrace, include; to take possession of, obtain, secure”), from ap-, ad- (prefix meaning ‘to’) + prehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, snatch, take; to accost; to catch in the act, take by surprise; (figuratively, rare) of the mind: to apprehend, comprehend, grasp”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to hold, seize, take; to find”)).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[…] Angel ſignifieth there, nothing but God himſelf, that cauſed Agar ſupernaturally to apprehend a voice from heaven; or rather, nothing elſe but a Voice ſupernaturall, teſtifying Gods ſpeciall preſence there." — 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Signification of Spirit, Angel, and Inspiration in the Books of Holy Scripture”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 3rd part (Of a Christian Common-wealth), page 212:

"[A]s to the barrel [of gunpowder] that had been wet, I did not apprehend any Danger from that; ſo I plac'd it in my new Cave, which in my Fancy I call'd my Kitchin, and the reſt I hid up and down in Holes among the Rocks, ſo that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where I laid it." — 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 70:

"From thy composure on the occasion it was evident, that thou expectedst to reap the fruit of thine iniquity in peace; and that, when thou repliedst, "All is well," thou apprehendedst no evil. But didst thou forget that God saw thee?" — 1832, Charles Simeon, “[2 Kings.] The Hypocrisy of Gehazi.”, in Horæ Homilecticæ: Or Discourses (Principally in the Form of Skeletons) Now First Digested into One Continued Series, and Forming a Commentary upon Every Book of the Old and New Testament; […], volume III (Judges to Second Book of Kings), London: Holdsworth and Ball, […], →OCLC, page 500:

"[E]ach man for his own sake / Accepts you as his guide, avails him of what worth / He apprehends in you to sublimate his earth / With fire: […]" — 1872, Robert Browning, Fifine at the Fair, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza 71, page 85:

"If to apprehend Chriſte be vnderſtanded, to dvvell in Chriſte, and to haue him dvvell in vs, it is not true that Chriſte is apprehended in that ſorte, by onely faith vvithout charitie. […] He apprehendeth Chriſte truely, that cleaueth vnto Chriſt, and the glue vvhereby the ſovvle is fastned vnto Chriſte, ſaith S. Auguſtine, is charitie: […]" — 1569, [Reginald] Pole, chapter IIII, in [Thomas Copley?], transl., A Treatie of Iustification. […], Leuven: […] Ioannem Foulerum, →OCLC, 2nd book (Declaring the Second Danger), folio 41:

Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words