Apprehension

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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.

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.

Synonyms: 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.