1.apprehend的基本意思是“逮捕; 拘押”,指警方抓住违法犯罪者如偷盗、暴行等,将其关押或监禁起来。本词仅用于刑事案件,并且不存在对拘捕者是否有证据或怀疑的问题。
2.apprehend用于比喻可指“领悟; 理解; 认识到”。和汉语中“抓住要领”颇为近似,仅知道其意思,但不知道其全部关系及内容,但本词指只是领悟式理解,而非全部理解。只用作及物动词。

用作及物动词
▲S+～+n./pron.
The police apprehended the burglar. 警方抓获了那个夜贼。
The police have finally apprehended the killer. 警方最终拘押了那名杀人犯。
The police are anxious to apprehend a middle-aged man believed to be armed with a shot gun. 警方急于抓捕一个据说持有一支猎枪的中年男子。
Do you apprehend any difficulty? 你担心会有困难吗？
He was slow to apprehend danger. 他没有及时意识到危险。
I don't apprehend your meaning. 我不懂你的意思。
I apprehend no worsening of the situation. 我不担心局势会恶化。
I apprehend the meaning of your words. 我理解你说话的意思。
I apprehended his meaning from his gestures. 我从他的手势动作领会了他的意思。
I don't fully apprehend the meaning of this poem. 我并没有完全理解这首诗的含义。
Are you sure you entirely apprehend the importance of completing these forms as accurately as possible? 你肯定你完全明白了尽可能准确地填写这些表格的重要性了吗？
A guilty man apprehends danger in every sound. 犯罪者做贼心虚,一有响声就心惊。
She apprehended disaster in the snowstorm ahead. 她担心即将来临的暴风雪会带来灾难。
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
The thief was apprehended and put in jail. 小偷被抓住,并被关进监狱。
It was apprehended at a glance by everyone. 大家对它一目了然。
▲S+～+that-clause
I sometimes apprehend that our institutions may perish. 我有时候真担心我们的机构会垮台。
▲S+～+wh-clause
I completely fail to apprehend why you're behaving like this. 我是完全无法理解你为什么要表现得如此。

apprehend, arrest, attach, detain
这组词都有依法逮捕、拘押、监禁的意思,其区别是：arrest可用于刑事案件,也可用于民事案件,如债务等; 而apprehend只用于刑事案件; attach常指因逃脱而扣押或查封,用于人时也只指将其拘留到法庭出庭作证; detain则是为了询问或审查而拘留或监护,不是严格的法律术语。

apprehend， comprehend
这两个词都指理解或领会事物,但在心理学上却有明显区别, apprehend 指稍有领会或了解，comprehend 则指全面地理解。apprehend可指单一的心理活动,而comprehend则指复杂费力的心理过程,例如母爱。孩提时只能用apprehend,只有到后来才能用comprehend。

［派生词］ apprehension n. 担心; 逮捕
［同义词］  arrest, capture,  comprehend, grasp
［反义词］  discharge, let go, liberate, release