I. əˈrest also aˈ- transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English aresten, from Middle French arester, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin arrestare, from Latin ad- + restare to stay back, remain — more at rest
1.
a. : to bring to a stop or halt the motion, course, or progress of : halt or prevent the development of
the girl was caught in a pine tree which arrested her fall — Willa Cather
the physician cannot arrest the coming on of age — J.A.Froude
b. : to check, hinder, or slow down the course or progress of : moderate the force of
various expedients to arrest fierce willful human nature in its outward course — J.H.Newman
c. : to bring to a standstill or state of inactivity
arrested tuberculosis
arrested labor
2. : to catch or take hold of : seize , capture ; specifically : to take or keep in custody by authority of law
they arrested him for speeding
3.
a. : to catch and hold (as the senses or intellectual faculties)
the racial difference that at once arrests attention is skin color — Ruth Benedict
b. : to seize or hold in focus the attention, thought, or consideration of
an easy beauty of style which arrests even the least prepared reader — T.S.Eliot
Synonyms:
check , interrupt : arrest indicates a stopping or holding fixed in the midst of motion, progress, development, or course with suddenness and with such power, force, or decisiveness that some sort of release is needed for resumed advance or motion
he had gone from task to task until this last attack of blackwater fever had arrested his activities — H.G.Wells
thought was arrested by utter bewilderment — George Eliot
check may suggest a quite sudden stopping, perhaps with force, with no implication at all about possible resumption of advance or activity in question
Lucian … seemed about to speak but checked himself — G.B.Shaw
while making a tour of his northern provinces he was checked by the information that the Penobscot Indians … were about to go on the warpath — Encycl. Americana
interrupt indicates some sort of breaking in and stopping smooth continuation of action under way; it stresses the fact of breaking in and is usually used in situations in which a resumption of activity by the performer, doer, or speaker is possible
he entered the Lawrence Scientific School … where his studies in chemistry and natural history were interrupted by the Civil War — F.H.Garrison
Emily could never have suspected that she had interrupted Mrs. Hetherington on the point of establishing an emotional mastery over the situation — Mary Austin
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English arest, areste, from Middle French, from Old French, from arester
1.
a. : the act of stopping or restraining (as from further motion) : check , stay , stoppage
in my attempt to explain the arrest of the scientific spirit among the Greeks — Benjamin Farrington
b. : the condition of being stopped
since the heart was in complete arrest , massage was immediately started
2.
a. : the act of seizing or taking hold of : seizure
the first arrests of sleep — Charles Lamb
b.
(1) : the taking or detaining of a person in custody by authority of law
(2) : legal restraint of the person : custody , imprisonment
(3) : seizure or detention of chattels under process of law, especially of vessels in admiralty cases or of movable obligations in a proceeding in Scots law analogous to garnishment
3. obsolete : a judgment , decree , sentence : arret
4. : a device for arresting motion (as one for checking the swinging of the beam or pans of a balance)
•
- under arrest
III. verb
intransitive verb
: to undergo cardiac arrest
the patient arrested