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Definition of "arrest" []

  • To stop; check: a brake that automatically arrests motion; arrested the growth of the tumor. (verb-transitive)
  • To seize and hold under the authority of law. (verb-transitive)
  • To capture and hold briefly (the attention, for example); engage. (verb-transitive)
  • To undergo cardiac arrest: The patient arrested en route to the hospital. (verb-intransitive)
  • The act of detaining in legal custody: the arrest of a criminal suspect. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "arrest" in a sentence
  • "The period at which malformations occur is a matter of some importance; this is, indeed, implied in the term arrest of development; evolution goes on with growth up to a certain point and is then stopped, and thus changes are brought about in the part affected of a different nature from those dependent on non-development or suppression."
  • "That description was changed in a subsequent legal filing, with a lawyer for KIT saying the use of the word "arrest" was due to an "administrative error.""
  • "So I go and commit a rape and murder and when the police arrest me, I claim that the arrest is the definitive proof that indeed, I was correct and am being victimized by the police."