arrest
to seize (a person) by legal authority or warrant; take into custody: The police arrested the burglar.
to catch and hold; attract and fix; engage: The loud noise arrested our attention.
to check the course of; stop; slow down: to arrest progress.
Medicine/Medical. to control or stop the active progress of (a disease): The new drug did not arrest the cancer.
the taking of a person into legal custody, as by officers of the law.
any seizure or taking by force.
an act of stopping or the state of being stopped: the arrest of tooth decay.
Machinery. any device for stopping machinery; stop.
Idioms about arrest
under arrest, in custody of the police or other legal authorities: They placed the suspect under arrest at the scene of the crime.
Origin of arrest
1synonym study For arrest
Other words for arrest
Other words from arrest
- ar·rest·a·ble, adjective
- ar·rest·ment, noun
- post·ar·rest, adjective
- pre·ar·rest, verb (used with object)
- pre·ar·rest·ment, noun
- re·ar·rest, verb (used with object), noun
- un·ar·rest·a·ble, adjective
- un·ar·rest·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use arrest in a sentence
Meanwhile, Hankison is also being sued by a man who says Hankison harasses suspects with unnecessary arrests and by planting drugs on them.
The policing reforms in the Breonna Taylor settlement, explained | Fabiola Cineas | September 17, 2020 | VoxIn the wake of the arrest of four employees of San Francisco-based startup PandaDoc, the tech industry in Belarus has rallied support for the company and the pro-democracy movement in the country.
Belarus tech industry rallies around arrested PandaDoc colleagues in new video | Mike Butcher | September 11, 2020 | TechCrunchHe is later sentenced to a reduced 10 years in prison because he cooperated with the FBI after his arrest.
A brief history of US-China espionage entanglements | Konstantin Kakaes | September 3, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewInstead, the employee called the FBI, leading to the arrest of one of the hackers this week, according to newly unsealed court documents.
The FBI broke up a Russian hacker plot to extort millions from Tesla | Aaron Pressman | August 28, 2020 | FortuneThe press conference was the first time she has faced local media since the arrest last Monday of media tycoon Jimmy Lai under the national security legislation.
U.S. sanctions mean Hong Kong’s leader is having trouble using her credit card | Claire Zillman, reporter | August 18, 2020 | Fortune
Asia Bibi, as she is known, was arrested and sentenced to death.
Chérif was arrested in Paris in January 2005 as he was about to board a plane to Damascus along with a man named Thamer Bouchnak.
But consider how citizens here in the States are now being arrested for posting threatening messages aimed at police on Facebook.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead | Luke O’Neil | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd only 1.6 percent of the cases led to someone being arrested and sentenced.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting | Ruben Navarrette Jr. | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen the man threatened to report him for harassment to the NOPD, Farrell arrested him.
Some were even re-arrested for the same nefarious purpose, and the daily papers published their names on each occasion.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanWere you ever arrested, having in your custody another man's cash, and would rather go to gaol, than break it?
He recounts at much length the reasons for which he supposes the governor arrested him.
In running over many words, the intellect might be arrested by chance.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)He was at once arrested, and on October 13th tried by court martial, condemned to death, and executed a few hours later.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
British Dictionary definitions for arrest
/ (əˈrɛst) /
to deprive (a person) of liberty by taking him into custody, esp under lawful authority
to seize (a ship) under lawful authority
to slow or stop the development or progress of (a disease, growth, etc)
to catch and hold (one's attention, sight, etc)
arrest judgment law to stay proceedings after a verdict, on the grounds of error or possible error
can't get arrested informal (of a performer) is unrecognized and unsuccessful: he can't get arrested here but is a megastar in the States
the act of taking a person into custody, esp under lawful authority
the act of seizing and holding a ship under lawful authority
the state of being held, esp under lawful authority: under arrest
Also called: arrestation (ˌærɛsˈteɪʃən) the slowing or stopping of the development or progress of something
the stopping or sudden cessation of motion of something: a cardiac arrest
Origin of arrest
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with arrest
see under arrest.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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