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Embrace vs Apprehend - What's the difference?

embrace | apprehend | Related terms |

As verbs the difference between embrace and apprehend

is that embrace is to clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug while apprehend is to take or seize; to take hold of.

As a noun embrace

is hug noun; putting arms around someone.

embrace

English

Alternative forms

* imbrace (obsolete)

Verb

(embrac)
  • To clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, / That he shall shrink under my courtesy.
  • * Bible, Acts xx. 1
  • Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them.
  • (obsolete) To cling to; to cherish; to love.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • To seize eagerly, or with alacrity; to accept with cordiality; to welcome.
  • I wholeheartedly embrace the new legislation.
  • * Shakespeare
  • You embrace the occasion.
  • * John Locke
  • What is there that he may not embrace for truth?
  • To accept; to undergo; to submit to.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I embrace this fortune patiently.
  • To encircle; to encompass; to enclose.
  • * Dryden
  • Not that my song, in such a scanty space, / So large a subject fully can embrace .
  • * Denham
  • Low at his feet a spacious plain is placed, / Between the mountain and the stream embraced .
  • To enfold, to include (ideas, principles, etc.); to encompass.
  • Natural philosophy embraces many sciences.
  • To fasten on, as armour.
  • (Spenser)
  • (legal) To attempt to influence (a jury, court, etc.) corruptly.
  • (Blackstone)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Hug (noun); putting arms around someone.
  • *
  • *:a delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ "Phil!  You!   Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow!" recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.
  • (metaphorical) Enfolding, including.
  • apprehend

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
  • * (rfdate), .
  • We have two hands to apprehend it.
  • To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
  • to apprehend a criminal .
  • To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
  • * (rfdate), .
  • This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it.
  • * (rfdate)
  • The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
  • *
  • To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
  • * (rfdate) -- .
  • The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.
  • To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
  • To be apprehensive; to fear.
  • * (rfdate) .
  • It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.

    Usage notes

    To apprehend, comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. We may apprehend much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters. --Trench.
    (material dates from 1913)

    Derived terms

    * apprehension * misapprehend

    Synonyms

    * catch, seize, arrest, detain, capture, conceive, understand, imagine, believe, fear, dread