arrest
Americanverb (used with object)
-
arrests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrested,
past participle, past
-
arresting
present participle
-
to seize (a person) by legal authority or warrant; take into custody.
The police arrested the burglar.
- Synonyms:
- apprehend
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- stay
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Medicine/Medical. to control or stop the active progress of (a disease).
The new drug did not arrest the cancer.
noun
-
arrests
plural
-
the taking of a person into legal custody, as by officers of the law.
- Synonyms:
- imprisonment, apprehension, detention
-
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
verb
-
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)
-
law to stay proceedings after a verdict, on the grounds of error or possible error
-
informal (of a performer) is unrecognized and unsuccessful
he can't get arrested here but is a megastar in the States
noun
-
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. the slowing or stopping of the development or progress of something
-
the stopping or sudden cessation of motion of something
a cardiac arrest
Usage
What does arrest mean? To arrest someone is to seize them or take them into custody with authority. Related to that, an arrest is the act of police or other law enforcement officials detaining someone suspected of committing a crime when there is probable cause. Arrest can also more generally mean to attract and engage, such as with attention or sight. For example, a loud clap of thunder might arrest your attention for a moment, if you weren’t expecting it. Arrest also means to slow or stop, such as with progress or growth. You might, for example, arrest the growth of a plant by keeping it in the dark while continuing to water it. Such an arrest could lead the plant to die. Example: You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit grand theft auto.
Synonym Usage
See stop.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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arrestmentnoun
-
prearrestmentnoun
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prearrestverb (used with object)
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rearrestverb (used with object)
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arrestableadjective
-
postarrestadjective
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unarrestableadjective
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unarrestedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
arrestsimple
-
arrestssimple
-
have arrestedperfect
-
has arrestedperfect
-
am arrestingprogressive
-
are arrestingprogressive
-
is arrestingprogressive
-
have been arrestingperfect progressive
-
has been arrestingperfect progressive
Past
-
arrestedsimple
-
had arrestedperfect
-
was arrestingprogressive
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were arrestingprogressive
-
had been arrestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of arrest
1275–1325; (v.) Middle English aresten < Anglo-French, Middle French arester, < Vulgar Latin *arrestāre to stop ( see ar-, rest 2); (noun) Middle English arest ( e ) < Anglo-French, Old French, noun derivative of v.
Explanation
To arrest someone is to put them in custody for breaking the law. If you face arrest, your criminal activities will be "at rest" because you'll be behind bars, or in jail. Arrest is both a noun and a verb. When you place a person "under arrest," you take them into custody and hold them so they can’t continue breaking the law. A police officer or other agent of the law will arrest a person often by physically taking them away. In addition to the legal meaning, arrest means "stop." To arrest motion is to stop a person or thing from moving.
Vocabulary lists containing arrest
Warm-up, List 1
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"Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Police in Pula, Croatia on Wednesday arrested Volodymyr Zhuravlyov under a European arrest warrant put out by Germany, which is seeking his extradition.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
This month’s arrest was not the first for Spurlock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
When emergency responders in Greenville, S.C., found Panettiere in an apartment on Sunday, she was unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
But he did not follow resuscitation guidelines and issue a "cardiac arrest" call to doctors.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Felix assumed—or hoped—Benji was under some kind of house arrest.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
It comes after three arrests connected to the same case were made in March.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Barrot did not make any reference to the Iranians' arrests in his post on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Pavlich declined to say whether any arrests had been made, nor provide any details on how many players were involved.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Last year, he embedded with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during raids, including in Chicago, where he and his crew taped arrests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
His system worked well at identifying criminals with fake names and prior arrests, and it worked a lot better than the identification system it had replaced, which was no identification system at all.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
While it is unclear why the journalists were arrested, some local reports have linked their detention to a Togolese investigative journalist who is living in exile in France.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Police say nobody has been arrested or formally interviewed in the matter.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The captain of an overloaded boat that capsized in New York Harbor earlier this month, killing a woman and her 5-month-old infant, has been arrested by federal authorities and faces deportation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Ferdinand Ayité was arrested in Togo in 2021 after complaints from government ministers over comments made online.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
British authorities had just arrested Klaus Fuchs, a physicist who had helped the Americans design the first atomic bomb.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Southeast Asia's biggest economy has long battled corruption in its public and private sectors despite strengthening anti-graft laws, creating special investigative commissions and arresting several high profile people.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The isolated image of Judas bestowing a traitor’s kiss on Jesus is especially arresting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
On Tuesday, investigators found Valdez and his Ford in Redlands and conducted a traffic stop, arresting him without incident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Having been caught out, the force stepped up its efforts to investigate who was behind the illegal event, eventually arresting more than 40 people and charging 25, several of whom have now been convicted.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
With so many people to process, I guess arresting us just wasn’t worth the hassle.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
