arrest

Arrest is defined as the act of taking a person into custody for legal purposes.

(verb)

An example of arrest is a police officer handcuffing a robber.

The definition of arrest is to take a person into custody for legal purposes.

(noun)

The placing of a robber into handcuffs is an example of an arrest.

See arrest in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb

Origin: ME aresten < OFr arester < VL *arrestare < L ad-, to + restare, to stop, rest

noun

an arresting or being arrested; esp., a taking or being taken into custody by authority of the law
a thing for checking motion

Origin: ME & OFr arest < the v.

Related Forms:

See arrest in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb ar·rest·ed, ar·rest·ing, ar·rests

verb, transitive

To stop; check: a brake that automatically arrests motion; arrested the growth of the tumor.
To seize and hold under the authority of law.
To capture and hold briefly (the attention, for example); engage.

verb, intransitive

To undergo cardiac arrest: The patient arrested en route to the hospital.

noun

a. The act of detaining in legal custody: the arrest of a criminal suspect.
b. The state of being so detained: a criminal under arrest.
A device for stopping motion, especially of a moving part.
The act of stopping or the condition of being stopped.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English aresten

Origin: , from Old French arester

Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *arrestāre

Origin: : Latin ad-, ad-

Origin: + Latin restāre, to stand still (re-, re- + stāre, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots)

Related Forms: