apprehend Hear it!

apprehend definition

ap·pre·hend (ap′rē hend′, -ri-)

transitive verb

  1. to take into custody; capture or arrest
  2. to take hold of mentally; perceive; understand
  3. to anticipate with anxiety; dread
  4. Obsolete to seize

Etymology: ME apprehenden < LL apprehendere, to understand < L, to take hold of < ad-, to + prehendere: see prehensile

intransitive verb

to understand

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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