com ‧ pre ‧ hend /ˌkɒmprɪˈhend $ ˌkɑːm-/ BrE AmE verb [I, T not in progressive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: comprehendere 'to take hold of completely' , from com- ( ⇨ COM- ) + prehendere ( , ↑ prehensile ) ]
to understand something that is complicated or difficult SYN understand , grasp ⇨ comprehension :
She cannot comprehend the extent of the disaster.
I did not fully comprehend what had happened.
comprehend what/how/why etc
It may be hard to comprehend how much this gift means for my country.
comprehend that
Finally, she comprehended that he wanted his pay.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say understand rather than comprehend :
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I could understand most of what she was saying.
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THESAURUS
▪ understand to know the meaning of something, or the reasons for something:
I understand what you’re saying.
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Doctors are beginning to understand what causes the disease.
▪ see especially spoken to understand something, especially the truth about a situation or the reasons for something:
I can see why you don’t like him.
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Do you see what I mean?
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Oh, I see!
▪ get informal to understand a joke, what someone says, the reasons why something is true etc:
She didn’t seem to get the joke.
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Do you get me?
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He explained the math homework twice, but I still don’t get it.
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I still don’t get why she left.
▪ comprehend formal to understand something, or understand why something is important:
The dream was easy to describe, but difficult to comprehend.
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They had failed to comprehend the significance of the problem.
▪ know what somebody means spoken to understand what someone is telling you, or what a situation is like, especially because you have some experience or knowledge about this:
‘It can be really hard to give up smoking.’ ‘I know exactly what you mean.’
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We now know what the scientists meant when they warned about global warming.
▪ follow to understand something such as an explanation or story as you hear it, read it etc:
The plot is hard to follow.
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His instructions were easy to follow.