arrest
verb (used with object)
to seize (a person) by legal authority or warrant; take into custody.
is arresting
-
present progressiveof arrest (3rd person singular).present progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or state that is currently taking place in the immediate present.
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.
As social media has grown around the world, so has concern that too much screen time is arresting child development and contributing to declining mental health in minors.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
The simile is arresting: modern European proponents of welfare-state liberalism likened to a dying class of 19th-century hereditary nobles, confident in their rightness and desperate to rest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
“We don’t know who is arresting our brothers and sisters, because they are hiding behind masks,” Michael Rodriguez, a city alderman, told CBS News.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025
I find this question of the permanence of things is arresting, particularly in an age where everything is easily disposable, and it’s more striking the older I get.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
“It’s nothing. You heard them, no one is arresting anyone.”
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
