apprehend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
apprehends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
apprehended,
past participle, past
-
apprehending
present participle
-
to take into custody; arrest by legal warrant or authority.
The police apprehended the burglars.
-
to grasp the meaning of; understand, especially intuitively; perceive.
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to expect with anxiety, suspicion, or fear; anticipate.
apprehending violence.
verb (used without object)
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apprehends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
apprehended,
past participle, past
-
apprehending
present participle
-
to understand.
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to be apprehensive, suspicious, or fearful; fear.
verb
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(tr) to arrest and escort into custody; seize
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to perceive or grasp mentally; understand
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(tr) to await with fear or anxiety; dread
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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apprehendsimple
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apprehendssimple
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have apprehendedperfect
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has apprehendedperfect
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am apprehendingprogressive
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are apprehendingprogressive
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is apprehendingprogressive
-
have been apprehendingperfect progressive
-
has been apprehendingperfect progressive
Past
-
apprehendedsimple
-
had apprehendedperfect
-
was apprehendingprogressive
-
were apprehendingprogressive
-
had been apprehendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of apprehend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English apprehenden, from Latin apprehendere “to grasp,” from ap- ap- 1 + prehendere “to seize” (from pre-, prae- pre- + -hendere “to grasp”)
Explanation
To apprehend is to capture or arrest, as when the police try to apprehend criminals and bring them to justice. You also apprehend a concept when you understand it, grasping or capturing its meaning. The verb apprehend has remained much the same since the original Latin, both in form and meaning. It comes from apprehendere, "to grasp or seize." The word came to refer to learning — "grasping or seizing with the mind" — but then came to mean "seize in the name of the law" or "arrest" around the 1540s, a meaning that remains to this day. The word can also be used to suggest an anxious feeling about something about to happen.
Vocabulary lists containing apprehend
Romeo and Juliet
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"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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"Sorry, Wrong Number," Vocabulary from the play
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We are urgently working to find and apprehend him, and would appeal to him directly to hand himself in."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
"Every effort is being made to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the attack," the spokesman said.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
The interior ministry statement said in a statement translated from Arabic: "Security forces immediately launched an operation to apprehend the perpetrators, acting on precise intelligence and through intensive field operations, tracking the kidnappers' movements."
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Los Alamitos police investigators did not immediately respond to questions from The Times about why it took six months to apprehend Childers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
“If any one should try to harm or apprehend you. “But where would I go?”
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
She plays a thieving fox whom Po apprehends stealing relics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
The Border Patrol apprehends migrants who cross the border unlawfully.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2020
The Border Patrol apprehends people entering the U.S. illegally, both directly at the U.S.-Mexico border and with its series of highway checkpoints miles from the border.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 23, 2019
CBP is the agency that apprehends and first detains migrant parents and children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 25, 2019
Volkheimer switches off the light, and Werner apprehends something excruciating held at bay there in the darkness.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
A Downey man was charged with a federal firearm-related offense after he was apprehended at the Trump National Golf Club with ammunition in his pocket and a loaded firearm in his pickup truck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
On Wednesday, in a local Sydney court, prosecutors withdrew the charges after it was agreed that Ahmed would abide by an apprehended domestic violence order for 12 months, limiting his contact with his father.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
"While we are still investigating the motives of this individual, we are thankful he was apprehended before the President's visit," First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement late Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
He was apprehended after family and friends reached out to law enforcement, officials said last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
It was peaceful in the fields which were close to the castle, and no arrows needed to be apprehended.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
It is not the first time Latin American officers have used fancy dress while apprehending suspected criminals.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
“If the U.S. government is unilaterally going into a sovereign country and apprehending somebody, you can understand the concern that sovereign entity might have,” Colombo told reporters outside the courthouse on Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
We must all reexamine our beliefs in a critical and dispassionate spirit to determine whether we are apprehending reality or clinging to mental fetishes.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
Federal authorities said in court filings that Velez “abruptly” stepped into the path of an agent in “an apparent effort to prevent him from apprehending the male subject he was chasing.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025
An age when crime was a fact of life, and entire industries were based on apprehending, trying, and punishing criminals.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
