Comprehension
[kɒmprɪ'henʃ(ə)n] or [,kɑmprɪ'hɛnʃən]
Definition
(noun.) an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result); 'how you can do that is beyond my comprehension'; 'he was famous for his comprehension of American literature'.
Typed by Gilda--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of comprehending, containing, or comprising; inclusion.
(n.) That which is comprehended or inclosed within narrow limits; a summary; an epitome.
(n.) The capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; the power, act, or process of grasping with the intellect; perception; understanding; as, a comprehension of abstract principles.
(n.) The complement of attributes which make up the notion signified by a general term.
(n.) A figure by which the name of a whole is put for a part, or that of a part for a whole, or a definite number for an indefinite.
Typist: Millie
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Perception, apprehension, discernment, knowledge.[2]. Understanding, intelligence, intellect, mind, reason, mental capacity.
Checked by Balder
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Understanding, conception, capacity, perception, apprehension
ANT:Misunderstanding, misconception
Checked by Calvin
Examples
- In her animal spirits there was an affluence of life and certainty of flow, such as excited my wonder, while it baffled my comprehension. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- His face flickered with sardonic comprehension. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- These figures are almost too great for comprehension. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Mr. Knightley connected it with the dream; but how it could all be, was beyond his comprehension. Jane Austen. Emma.
- They are brought more within my comprehension. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Studying it in process of formation makes much that is too complex to be directly grasped open to comprehension. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Between her and Gerald was this silence and this black, electric comprehension in the darkness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He thinks everything but sewing and cooking above women's comprehension, and out of their line. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Oh, if it is Ladislaw's present, said Mr. Farebrother, in a deep tone of comprehension, getting up and hunting. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Mr. Bulstrode, bending and looking intently, found the form which Lydgate had given to his agreement not quite suited to his comprehension. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I had to cipher a comprehension of it. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- These phenomena are easy of comprehension and demonstration. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- We still read Washington's immortal warning against entangling alliances with full comprehension and an answering purpose. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But where his ruder blows could not penetrate, the fine, insinuating blade of Loerke's insect-like comprehension could. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Here, John Harmon assisted his comprehension with another shake. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Typist: Shane