Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

arrest

[uh-rest]
See more synonyms for arrest on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to seize (a person) by legal authority or warrant; take into custody: The police arrested the burglar.
  2. to catch and hold; attract and fix; engage: The loud noise arrested our attention.
  3. to check the course of; stop; slow down: to arrest progress.
  4. Medicine/Medical. to control or stop the active progress of (a disease): The new drug did not arrest the cancer.
Show More
noun
  1. the taking of a person into legal custody, as by officers of the law.
  2. any seizure or taking by force.
  3. an act of stopping or the state of being stopped: the arrest of tooth decay.
  4. Machinery. any device for stopping machinery; stop.
Show More
Idioms
  1. under arrest, in custody of the police or other legal authorities: They placed the suspect under arrest at the scene of the crime.
Show More

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.
Related formsar·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

Synonyms

See more synonyms for arrest on Thesaurus.com
1. apprehend. 2. secure, rivet, occupy. 3. stay. 5. detention, apprehension, imprisonment. 7. stoppage, halt, stay, check.

Synonym study

3. See stop.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for arrestment

Historical Examples

  • Arrestment on arrestment falls quick, continual; followed by death.

    The French Revolution

    Thomas Carlyle

  • Arrestment on arrestment follows quick, continual; "The guillotine goes not ill."

  • 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

  • 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

  • No passage Spainward from the Thames; well if arrestment do not suddenly come from the Thames!

British Dictionary definitions for arrestment

arrestment

noun
  1. Scots law the seizure of money or property to prevent a debtor paying one creditor in advance of another
Show More

arrest

verb (tr)
  1. to deprive (a person) of liberty by taking him into custody, esp under lawful authority
  2. to seize (a ship) under lawful authority
  3. to slow or stop the development or progress of (a disease, growth, etc)
  4. to catch and hold (one's attention, sight, etc)
  5. arrest judgment law to stay proceedings after a verdict, on the grounds of error or possible error
  6. can't get arrested informal (of a performer) is unrecognized and unsuccessfulhe can't get arrested here but is a megastar in the States
Show More
noun
  1. the act of taking a person into custody, esp under lawful authority
  2. the act of seizing and holding a ship under lawful authority
  3. the state of being held, esp under lawful authorityunder arrest
  4. Also called: arrestation (ˌærɛsˈteɪʃən) the slowing or stopping of the development or progress of something
  5. the stopping or sudden cessation of motion of somethinga cardiac arrest
Show More

Word Origin

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

v.

"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.

Show More

arrest

n.

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

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
arrestment in Medicine

arrest

(ə-rĕst′)
v.
  1. To stop; check.
  2. To undergo cardiac arrest.
Show More
n.
  1. An interference with or a checking of the regular course of a disease or symptom, a stoppage.
  2. Interference with the performance of a function.
  3. The inhibition of a developmental process, usually the ultimate stage of development.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with arrestment

arrest

see under arrest.

Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.