apprehension
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (4)
- fearful expectation or anticipation“the student looked around the examination room with apprehension”Synonyms: apprehensivenessdread
- the cognitive condition of someone who understands“he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect”Synonyms: understandingdiscernmentsavvy
- painful expectationSynonyms: misgiving
- the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)“the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar”Synonyms: arrestcatchcollarpinchtaking into custody
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
2.The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the felon, after his apprehension, escaped. [1913 Webster]
3.The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception. [1913 Webster]
Simple apprehension denotes no more than the soul's naked intellection of an object.— Glanvill.[1913 Webster]
4.Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea. [1913 Webster]
Note: 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. [1913 Webster]
To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension.— South.[1913 Webster]
5.The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man of dull apprehension. [1913 Webster]
6.Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil. [1913 Webster]
After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life.— Addison.[1913 Webster]
Syn: Apprehension, Alarm.
Usage: 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. [1913 Webster]