apprehend
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
-
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.
-
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
-
have apprehendedperfect
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has apprehendedperfect
-
am apprehendingprogressive
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are apprehendingprogressive
-
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:
The cantonal public prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation, which is ongoing to try and apprehend the perpetrators, it said.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
"Every effort is being made to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the attack," the spokesman said.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
County Sheriff’s Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department worked collaboratively to apprehend the seven alleged thieves.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 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
At first, I thought they had been sent out to calm the crowd—or was it to apprehend would-be play pirates?
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
At the same time, it estimates that it apprehends about 80 percent of people crossing illegally.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2022
Porzak, a gifted photographer, apprehends the world visually, but to reach her mother as she slipped in and out of a coma, she used sound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022
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
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
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
State correctional officials said since 1977, nearly all people who have escaped or walked away from an adult institution, camp, in-state contract bed or community-based program placement have been apprehended.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Authorities said the poaching suspects were apprehended “recently” but did not give a specific date for the operation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 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
Talk turns to the possibilities that she has been apprehended and arrested, turned us in voluntarily, or simply been injured in the wave of refugees.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
The viral photograph of federal authorities apprehending little Liam Conejo Ramos in his bunny ear beanie and Spider-Man backpack stunned viewers across the country, filling them with horror and rage.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2026
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
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.
