arrest
Americanverb (used with object)
-
arrests,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrested,
past participle, past
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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
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to deprive (a person) of liberty by taking him into custody, esp under lawful authority
-
to seize (a ship) under lawful authority
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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
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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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"Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." and "I Have a Dream"
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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:
"He was broken and he was just crying," she said, struggling to hold back her own tears, recalling their first phone call after his arrest.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Chow Hang-tung spoke to the BBC in 2021, weeks before her arrest on 4 June 2022.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
This month’s arrest was not the first for Spurlock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Which strikes me as akin to a judge tossing a criminal indictment because the defendant stopped his illegal activity on arrest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
When the G-men arrested spies and got hold of their code books, no one shared those books with Elizebeth—not even when her team had made the arrest possible.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
The Met said no arrests had yet been made but officers believed the fire may have been started deliberately.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
It comes after three arrests connected to the same case were made in March.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
On the eve of the election, Zambia's Human Rights Commission said it was "actively monitoring arrests and detentions involving political candidates, supporters, journalists and other actors".
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Atlanta-based Flock said the tool has already been associated with the arrests of several officers accused of abusing the system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The officer arrests him and calls Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
It was "probably... the first time" a captain is arrested over "the commercial aspect" rather than safety issues, for example, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
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
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
A convicted people smuggler who was found by the BBC to be living in Leicestershire has been arrested and charged with immigration offences.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
The soldiers arrested Powell, Mary Surratt, her daughter, Anna, Lewis Weichmann, and the rest of the boarders.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
Most arresting was the oldest opera represented here, Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” given an acute updating by director Eric Einhorn and Kelley Rourke, who devised the brilliantly calibrated English adaptation of the libretto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
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
This suggests that BOJ tightening will be crucial to arresting the fall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
That changed last year, attorneys said in the motion, citing an email from ICE headquarters in late May 2025 instructing field offices to begin arresting “collaterals,” or nontargets, en masse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
I told the arresting officers, one black and one white, that I was a student.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
