Ap`pre*hen"sion (&?;), n. [L. apprehensio: cf.
F. appréhension. See
Apprehend.]
1. The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension. Sir T. Browne.
2. The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the felon, after his apprehension, escaped.
3. The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming,
denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception.
Simple apprehension denotes no
more than the soul's naked intellection of an object.
Glanvill.
4. Opinion; conception; sentiment;
idea.
&fist; In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our apprehension, the facts
prove the issue.
To false, and to
be thought false, is all
one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but
apprehension.
South.
5.
The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man of dull apprehension.
6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust
or fear at the prospect of future evil.
After the death of his
nephew Caligula, Claudius was
in no small
apprehension for
his own life.
Addison.
Syn. -- Apprehension, Alarm. Apprehension springs from a sense
of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm
arises from danger when announced as near at hand.
Apprehension is calmer and more permanent; alarm is more agitating and transient.
Hear it pronounced