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.
Note: 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}.
Usage: 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.