arrest

[ uh-rest ]

/ əˈrɛst /

|||

verb (used with object)

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.

noun

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.

Origin of arrest

1275–1325; (v.) Middle English aresten < Anglo-French, Middle French arester, < Vulgar Latin *arrestāre to stop (see ar-, rest²); (noun) Middle English arest(e) < Anglo-French, Old French, noun derivative of v.

SYNONYMS FOR arrest

1. apprehend. 2. secure, rivet, occupy. 3. stay. 5. detention, apprehension, imprisonment. 7. stoppage, halt, stay, check.

Related forms

ar·rest·a·ble, adjectivear·rest·ment, nounpost·ar·rest, adjectivepre·ar·rest, verb (used with object)

pre·ar·rest·ment, nounre·ar·rest, verb (used with object), nounun·ar·rest·a·ble, adjectiveun·ar·rest·ed, adjective

Synonym study

3. See stop.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for arrestment

Arrestment on arrestment follows quick, continual; "The guillotine goes not ill."
The World's Greatest Books, Vol XII.|Arthur Mee
The first of these is the bill which he introduced last session with the object of limiting the arrestment of wages.
Western Worthies|J. Stephen Jeans
Arrestment on arrestment falls quick, continual; followed by death.
The French Revolution|Thomas Carlyle
No passage Spainward from the Thames; well if arrestment do not suddenly come from the Thames!
The Life of John Sterling|Thomas Carlyle

If these be passed, it usually spreads up the leg to just below the knee before signs of arrestment appear.
Manual of Surgery|Alexis Thomson and Alexander Miles

British Dictionary definitions for arrestment

arrestment

/ (əˈrɛstmənt) /

noun

Scots law the seizure of money or property to prevent a debtor paying one creditor in advance of another

arrest

/ (əˈrɛst) /

verb (tr)

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 unsuccessfulhe 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 authorityunder arrest

Also called: arrestation (ˌærɛsˈteɪʃən) the slowing or stopping of the development or progress of something

the stopping or sudden cessation of motion of somethinga cardiac arrest

Word Origin for arrest

C14: from Old French arester, from Vulgar Latin arrestāre (unattested), from Latin ad at, to + restāre to stand firm, stop

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for arrestment

arrest

"to cause to stop," also "to detain legally," late 14c., from Old French arester "to stay, stop" (Modern French arrêter), from Vulgar Latin *arrestare (source of Italian arrestare, Spanish and Portuguese arrestar), from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + restare "to stop, remain behind, stay back" (see rest (n.2)). Figurative sense of "to catch and hold" (the attention, etc.) is from 1814.

arrest

late 14c., from Anglo-French arest, Old French areste, from arester (see arrest (v.)).

Medicine definitions for arrestment

arrest

[ ə-rĕst′ ]

v.

To stop; check.

To undergo cardiac arrest.

n.

An interference with or a checking of the regular course of a disease or symptom, a stoppage.

Interference with the performance of a function.

The inhibition of a developmental process, usually the ultimate stage of development.

Idioms and Phrases with arrestment

arrest

see under arrest.

arrest

verb (used with object)

noun

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Idioms

Origin of arrest

Synonym study

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arrestment

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arrest

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