different between apprehend vs nab

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French apprehender (compare modern French appréhender), from Latin apprehendere. Compare Spanish aprehender.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /æ.p?i?h?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

Verb

apprehend (third-person singular simple present apprehends, present participle apprehending, simple past and past participle apprehended)

1. (transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, Of Contentedness

     We have two hands to apprehend it.

   1. (transitive, law enforcement) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.

2. (transitive) To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
   • 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre

     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.

   • 1858, William Ewart Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age

     The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
3. (transitive) To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
4. (intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
5. (intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.
   • c. 1700, Nicholas Rowe (translator), Characters: Or, the Manners of the Age (originally by Jean de La Bruyère)

     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)

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• apprehension
• misapprehend

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næb/
• Rhymes: -æb

Etymology 1

From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”).

Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian nappe (“to pluck”).

Alternative forms

• knab

Verb

nab (third-person singular simple present nabs, present participle nabbing, simple past and past participle nabbed)

1. (informal, transitive) To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
   • 1887, Anna Katharine Green, 7 to 12, A Detective Story, G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 2:

     As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he.
2. (informal, transitive) To grab or snatch something.

Synonyms

• (arrest a criminal or fugitive): nick, bust, cop

Derived terms

• nabber
• kidnap

Translations

Etymology 2

Compare knap, knop, knob.

Noun

nab (plural nabs)

1. The summit of an eminence.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

2. The cock of a gunlock.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

3. (locksmithing) The keeper, or box into which the lock is shot.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “nab”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• ABN, BAN, BNA, Ban, NBA, ban

Northern Kurdish

Adjective

nab

1. pure

Southeastern Tepehuan

Etymology

Cognate with Northern Tepehuan návoi, O'odham nav, Central Tarahumara napó, Mayo naabo, Hopi naavu.

Noun

nab

1. prickly pear cactus (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• nab junma?n

References

• R. de Willett, Elizabeth, et al. (2016) Diccionario tepehuano de Santa María Ocotán, Durango (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 48)?^[2] (in Spanish), electronic edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 132

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *?na? (“snake”). Cognate with Iu Mien naang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na?/

Noun

nab

1. snake.
2. worm.

Derived terms

• cua nab (“earthworm”)
• ntses nab (“eel”)
• nab qa (“lizard”)

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary?^[3], SEAP Publications, ?ISBN.