In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
APPREHEND
grok, get the picture, comprehend, savvy, dig, grasp, compass, apprehend
(verb) get the meaning of something; “Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?”
collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop
(verb) take into custody; “the police nabbed the suspected criminals”
apprehend, quail at
(verb) anticipate with dread or anxiety
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
apprehend (third-person singular simple present apprehends, present participle apprehending, simple past and past participle apprehended)
(transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
(transitive, law enforcement) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
(transitive) To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
(transitive) To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
(intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
(intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.
Usage notes
To apprehend, comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that He may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. We may apprehend much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters. --Trench.
(material dates from 1913)
Synonyms
• catch, seize, arrest, detain, capture, conceive, understand, imagine, believe, fear, dread
Source: Wiktionary
Ap`pre*hend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Apprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Apprehending.] Etym: [L. apprehendere; ad + prehendere to lay hold of, seize; prae before + -hendere (used only in comp.); akin to Gr. get: cf. F. appréhender. See Prehensile, Get.]
1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [Archaic] We have two hands to apprehended it. Jer. Taylor.
2. Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.
3. To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider. This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it. Fuller. The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them. Gladstone.
4. To know or learn with certainty. [Obs.] G. You are too much distrustful of my truth. E. Then you must give me leave to apprehend The means and manner how. Beau. & Fl.
5. To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear. The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence. Macaulay.
Syn.
– To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread.
– To Apprehend, Comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehended many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. "We may apprehended much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters." Trench.
Ap`pre*hend", v. i.
1. To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
2. To be apprehensive; to fear. It is worse to apprehend than to suffer. Rowe.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
19 April 2025
CATCH
(verb) grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of; “did you catch that allusion?”; “We caught something of his theory in the lecture”; “don’t catch your meaning”; “did you get it?”; “She didn’t get the joke”; “I just don’t get him”
Coffee Trivia
