\Ap`pre*hen"sion\, n. [L. apprehensio: cf. F.
appr['e]hension. 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.
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.