APPREHENDS Synonyms: 99 Similar and Opposite Words

apprehends

verb

present tense third-person singular of apprehend

as in knows

to have a clear idea of do you apprehend the importance of this discovery?

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in arrests

to take or keep under one's control by authority of law the agency charged with apprehending criminals who have violated federal law

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of apprehends John Early, as anyone encountering his work soon apprehends, chooses the latter. — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 7 June 2026 Though the team immediately apprehends a suspect, the Marshals end up taking criticism from both sides. — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 21 Mar. 2026 Neighbors are now living in fear, looking on as ICE apprehends people of color across Minnesota. — Jason Rantala, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026 The team successfully seizes two tons of gold and apprehends the leader of the criminal network. — Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 14 Jan. 2026 Suppose the number is read in one case out of a hundred, and that the information reaches someone who apprehends the culprit in one case out of one thousand. — Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for apprehends

Verb

Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer.

— Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
The honest answer is that in 2026, nobody knows which of them sells more goods to American consumers.

— Jason Goldberg, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of knows

Verb

Keith arrests our thinking, and cons us into suppressing our critical faculties with the same kind of internalized surveillance that philosopher Michel Foucault broke down to describe a prison’s use of the panopticon in Discipline and Punish.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Devlin throws a punch at Stone when the chief arrests him for drunken driving.

— Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026

Definition of arrests

Verb

Luiz understands that aspect, too, acknowledging that Sporting KC needed him four separate times during Thursday’s news conference.

— Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026
Churches, neighborhoods, nonprofits, businesses, utilities and government should periodically engage in preparedness exercises so everyone understands their role.

— Freida Graves, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of understands

Verb

The main drama involves a rural teen-age tee girl who recognizes the resort’s president as the potentate who evicted her family from their land.

— Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2026
Rather than forcing every pup into the same feeding routine, The Pets Table recognizes that different dogs have different needs, preferences, and sensitivities.

— Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of recognizes

Verb

The Midwest Regional Reception Center detains close to 500 fathers, mothers, spouses, cousins and friends on behalf of ICE.

— Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 18 Aug. 2026
The policy guidance applies to agents under Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch of ICE that detains and ultimately deports undocumented immigrants.

— Philip Wang, Time, 14 July 2026

Definition of detains

Verb

In an oppositional reading of a media text, the audience comprehends that the message conflicts with or contradicts their personal experiences of society.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 May 2026
In the end, A Guardian and a Thief is a story that comprehends hunger more deeply than the world that produces it.

— Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2025

Definition of comprehends

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apprehending

apprehends

apprehensible

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“Apprehends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apprehends. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of apprehends

verb

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