apprehend

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To be or become aware of (something)

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

   • […] 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.
   • 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?
2. 2

   To acknowledge the existence of (something)

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

   • [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: […]
3. 3

   To take hold of (something) with understanding

   To take hold of (something) with understanding; to conceive (something) in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand.

   • This ſuſpicion of Earl Reimund, though at firſt but a buzze, ſoon got a ſting in the Kings head, and he violently apprehended it.
   • We ſee in all things how deſuetude do's contract and narrow our faculties, ſo that we may apprehend only thoſe things wherein we are converſant.
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   1. 4

      To have a conception of (something)

      To have a conception of (something); to consider, to regard.

      • Tim[on]. That's a laſciuious apprehenſion. / Ape[mantus]. So, thou apprehend'ſt it, / Take it for thy labour.
      • In ſtead therefore of giving them a houſe, he ſent them to a work-houſe; yet ſo, that they apprehended it a great courteſie done unto them: For he beſtowed on them all the lands which the Chriſtians held in Paleſtine; […]
   2. 5

      To anticipate (something, usually unpleasant)

      To anticipate (something, usually unpleasant); especially, to anticipate (something) with anxiety, dread, or fear; to dread, to fear.

      • O let my Lady apprehend no feare, / In all Cupids pageant there is preſented no monſter.
   3. 6

      To seize or take (something)

      To seize or take (something); to take hold of.

   4. 7

      To seize or take (a person) by legal process

      To seize or take (a person) by legal process; to arrest.

      • Officers apprehended the suspect two streets away from the bank.
      • […] Paul before his converſion entred into their Synagogues at Damaſcus, to apprehend Chriſtians, men and women, and to carry them bound to Jeruſalem, by Commiſſion from the High Prieſt.
   5. 8

      To feel (something) emotionally.

      • [H]ow it worketh in the mindes and soules of them that haue no power to apprehend such felicitie, it is not for me to intimate, because it is preiudiciall to our monarchie.
      • Pol[itic Would-Be]. Stone dead! / Per[egrine]. Dead. Lord! how deeply, ſir, you apprehend it? / He was no kinſman to you?
   6. 9

      To learn (something).

      • Though Children, without Study, Pains, or Thought, / Are Languages, and vulgar Notions taught, / Improve their nat'ral Talents without Care, / And apprehend, before they are aware; […]
   7. 10

      To take possession of (something)

      To take possession of (something); to seize.

      • Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which alſo I am apprehended of Chriſt Jeſus.
      • Thou [Jesus] followedst this poor slave [Onesimus] to Rome. Thou broughtest him under the ministry of thy servant Paul. Thou apprehendedst him by thy grace, and hadst greater joy in his conversion, than Paul had.
   8. 11

      To be of opinion, believe, or think

      To be of opinion, believe, or think; to suppose.

      • Sir, if you haue a minde to mocke him, mocke him ſoftly, and looke to'ther way: for if hee apprehend you flout him, once, he will flie at you preſently. A terrible teſtie old fellow, and his name is Waſpe too.
      • And ſince thou relieſt more on thy own precaution than upon my honour; be it unto thee as thou apprehendeſt, fair one!
   9. 12

      To understand.

      • Coſin you apprehend paſſing ſhrewdly.
      • I confess I cannot apprehend where lies the trifling in all this; […]
   10. 13

       To be apprehensive

       To be apprehensive; to fear.

       • Death never happens but once, yet we feel it every moment of our lives. It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.
       • I sometimes apprehend that our institutions may perish before we shall have discovered the most precious of the possibilities which they involve.

The neighborhood

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