arrest

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To stop; check: a brake that automatically arrests motion; arrested the growth of the tumor.
2. v. To seize and hold under the authority of law.
3. v. To capture and hold briefly (the attention, for example); engage.
4. v. To undergo cardiac arrest: The patient arrested en route to the hospital.
5. n. The act of detaining in legal custody: the arrest of a criminal suspect.
6. n. The state of being so detained: a criminal under arrest.
7. n. A device for stopping motion, especially of a moving part.
8. n. The act of stopping or the condition of being stopped.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To stop forcibly; check or hinder the motion or action of: as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the course of justice.
2. To take, seize, or apprehend by virtue of a legal warrant or official authority; take into custody: as, to arrest one for a crime or misdemeanor.
3. To seize and fix; engage; secure; catch; take: as, to arrest the eyes or the attention.
4. To rest or fix.
5. In Scots and admiralty law, to seize (property) for debt or the satisfaction of a claim; attach or levy upon. Synonyms To stay, interrupt, delay, detain.
6. n. The act of stopping, or the state of being stopped; suspension of movement or action: as, an arrest of the vital functions; “the stop and arrest of the air,” Bacon.
7. n. Self-restraint; self-command.
8. n. Any seizure or taking by force, physical or moral; hindrance; interruption; stoppage; restraint.
9. n. In machinery, any contrivance which stops or retards motion.
10. n. In law, the taking of a person into custody of the law, usually by virtue of a warrant from authority. An arrest is made by seizing or touching the body or otherwise taking possession of it. By the law of some jurisdictions, arrest is allowed in civil cases for the purpose of enforcing the payment of debts or preventing a defendant from eluding an obligation. In criminal or penal cases arrest is made for the purpose of compelling the person charged with a crime or an offense to appear and submit to justice. In civil cases it cannot be legally effected except by virtue of a precept or writ issued out of some court, but this is often dispensed with in criminal cases. Arrest in civil cases is of two kinds, viz., that which takes place before trial, and is called arrest on mesne process, and that which takes place after trial and judgment, and is called arrest on final process, or arrest in execution.
11. n. In admiralty law, the taking of a ship into custody by virtue of a warrant from a court.—
12. n. In Scots law, attachment; seizure of property, funds, etc., by legal process, as for debt or the satisfaction of a claim.
13. n. A mangy tumor on the back part of the hind leg of a horse. Also called rat-tail.

Wiktionary

1. n. A check, stop, an act or instance of arresting something.
2. n. The condition of being stopped, standstill.
3. n. law The act of arresting a criminal, suspect etc.
4. n. A confinement, detention, as after an arrest.
5. n. A device to physically arrest motion.
6. n. nautical The judicial detention of a ship to secure a financial claim against its operators.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To stop; to check or hinder the motion or action of
2. v. (Law) To take, seize, or apprehend by authority of law.
3. v. To seize on and fix; to hold; to catch.
4. v. obsolete To rest or fasten; to fix; to concentrate.
5. v. obsolete To tarry; to rest.
6. n. The act of stopping, or restraining from further motion, etc.; stoppage; hindrance; restraint.
7. n. (Law) The taking or apprehending of a person by authority of law; legal restraint; custody. Also, a decree, mandate, or warrant.
8. n. Any seizure by power, physical or moral.
9. n. (Far.) A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse; -- also named rat-tails.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. take into custody
2. v. hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of
3. v. cause to stop
4. v. attract and fix
5. n. the state of inactivity following an interruption
6. n. the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal)