arrest

UK: /əˈrɛst/ US: /əˈrɛst/ ,(ə rest′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ar•rest /əˈrɛst/   v. [~ + object]

1. Law to seize (a person) by legal authority:
   The police arrested the burglar.
2. to catch and hold;
   attract:
   A loud noise arrested our attention.
3. to stop (something) or to cause (something) to slow down:
   The new drug seemed to arrest the progress of the disease.

n. [countable]

4. Law the taking of a person into legal custody (as by the police):
   made an arrest.
5. an act of stopping or the state of being stopped:
   cardiac arrest.

Idioms

6. Law, Idioms under arrest, in custody of the police.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ar•rest  (ə rest′), v.t. 

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. [Med.] to control or stop the active progress of (a disease):
   The new drug did not arrest the cancer.

n. 

5. the taking of a person into legal custody, as by officers of the law.
6. any seizure or taking by force.
7. an act of stopping or the state of being stopped:
   the arrest of tooth decay.
8. [Mach.] any device for stopping machinery;
   stop.
9. under arrest, in custody of the police or other legal authorities:
   They placed the suspect under arrest at the scene of the crime.

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

ar•rest′a•ble, adj. 
ar•rest′ment, n. 
Synonyms

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

arrest / əˈrɛst/ verb (transitive)

1. to deprive (a person) of liberty by taking him or her 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)

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 authority: under 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 something: a cardiac arrest

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French arester, from Vulgar Latin arrestāre (unattested), from Latin ad at, to + restāre to stand firm, stop