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APPREHENSION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)
Example:
the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar
Synonyms:
apprehension; arrest; catch; collar; pinch; taking into custody
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("apprehension" is a kind of...):
capture; gaining control; seizure (the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property)
Derivation:
apprehend (take into custody)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The cognitive condition of someone who understands
Example:
he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect
Synonyms:
apprehension; discernment; savvy; understanding
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("apprehension" is a kind of...):
knowing (a clear and certain mental apprehension)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "apprehension"):
comprehension (an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result))
self-knowledge (an understanding of yourself and your goals and abilities)
smattering (a slight or superficial understanding of a subject)
appreciation; grasp; hold (understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something)
grasping (understanding with difficulty)
hindsight (understanding the nature of an event after it has happened)
brainstorm; brainwave; insight (the clear (and often sudden) understanding of a complex situation)
realisation; realization; recognition (coming to understand something clearly and distinctly)
Derivation:
apprehend (get the meaning of something)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Painful expectation
Synonyms:
apprehension; misgiving
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("apprehension" is a kind of...):
expectation; outlook; prospect (belief about (or mental picture of) the future)
Derivation:
apprehend (anticipate with dread or anxiety)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Fearful expectation or anticipation
Example:
the student looked around the examination room with apprehension
Synonyms:
apprehension; apprehensiveness; dread
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("apprehension" is a kind of...):
fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "apprehension"):
trepidation (a feeling of alarm or dread)
boding; foreboding; premonition; presentiment (a feeling of evil to come)
suspense (apprehension about what is going to happen)
gloom; gloominess; somberness; sombreness (a feeling of melancholy apprehension)
chill; pall (a sudden numbing dread)
Derivation:
apprehend (anticipate with dread or anxiety)
Context examples:
A disorder characterized by apprehension of danger and dread accompanied by restlessness, tension, tachycardia, and dyspnea unattached to a clearly identifiable stimulus.
(Anxiety Disorder, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)
The younger girls formed hopes of coming out a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done; and the boys were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte's dying an old maid.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The danger lay in the heavy fog which blanketed the bay, and of which, as a landsman, I had little apprehension.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I saw him leave for Whitby with as brave a face as I could, but I was sick with apprehension.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
"Where are you going?" Edith demanded, in an agony of apprehension.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
"What will my people say?" she queried, with sudden apprehension, in one of the pauses.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A feeling of apprehension that one may be in danger.
(Fear, NCI Thesaurus)
She curtseyed with a smile to Mr. Holmes, but glanced with some apprehension at the figure upon the sofa.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
These apprehensions, perhaps, were not founded entirely on reason, and certainly not at all on truth.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
His father had no apprehension of it.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
