Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Apprehension \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.

Source : WordNet®

apprehension
     n 1: fearful expectation or anticipation; "the student looked
          around the examination room with apprehension" [syn: {apprehensiveness},
           {dread}]
     2: the cognitive condition of someone who understands; "he has
        virtually no understanding of social cause and effect"
        [syn: {understanding}, {discernment}, {savvy}]
     3: painful expectation [syn: {misgiving}]
     4: the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a
        criminal); "the policeman on the beat got credit for the
        collar" [syn: {arrest}, {catch}, {collar}, {pinch}, {taking
        into custody}]