Meaning & use

apprehended

verb·Academic

Simple past tense and past participle of apprehend: arrested or caught, especially by the police.

See it in a sentence

The suspect was apprehended just blocks from the scene of the robbery.

Police apprehended the shoplifter before he could leave the parking lot.

A note on using this word

Apprehend can also mean to understand or grasp a concept mentally, a more formal, less common sense than the crime-related meaning.

Words with a similar meaning

arrestedcaptured

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

released

Another way to use it

2. verb

Understood or grasped a concept or idea, often with some difficulty or anxiety.

She apprehended the danger of the situation only after it was too late.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “apprehended”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.