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arrest

ar·rest

UK/əˈɹɛst/ US/əˈɹʷɛst/ common
verb (4) noun (2)

verb

1.

abstain from certain foods, as for religious or medical reasons

  • “Catholics sometimes fast during Lent”
Synonyms
2.

hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of

  • “Arrest the downward trend”
  • “Check the growth of communism in South East Asia”
  • “Contain the rebel movement”
  • “Turn back the tide of communism”
Synonyms
3.

attract and fix

  • “His look caught her”
  • “She caught his eye”
  • “Catch the attention of the waiter”
Synonyms
4.

cause to stop

  • “Halt the engines”
  • “Arrest the progress”
  • “halt the presses”
Synonyms

noun

1.

the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)

  • “the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar”
Synonyms
2.

the state of inactivity following an interruption

  • “the negotiations were in arrest”
  • “held them in check”
  • “during the halt he got some lunch”
  • “the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow”
  • “he spent the entire stop in his seat”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), equivalent to ad- + rest. Compare French arrêter (“to stop”).

Phrases

  • arrest warrant
  • cardiac arrest
  • cardiopulmonary arrest
  • citizen's arrest
  • false arrest
  • growth arrest line
  • house arrest
  • pretextual arrest

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.