▪ I. arrest, v.
(əˈrɛst)
Forms: 4 areiste, 4–6 arest(e, 6 areest, (Sc. arreist), 5– arrest. Aphet. 6–7 rest.
[a. OF. areste-r intr. and trans., = Pr. a(r)restar, It. arrestare:—late L. adrestāre, f. ad to, at + restāre to remain, stop, f. re- back + stāre to stand. Orig. intr. in Rom. langs., but in OFr. also trans. long before its adoption in Eng.]
I. intr. To stop, stay, remain, rest.
† 1. To stop, come to a stand, halt. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 766 Þenne arest þe renk & raȝt no fyrre. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 130/1 Without arestyng for to helpe them. |
† 2. To stay, remain, continue, rest. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 144 Durst nowhere for roȝ arest at þe bothem. 1393 Gower Conf. I. i. 164 A wilde beast, In whom no reson might areste. 1538 Leland Itin. VI. 40 A white Starre..whiche to every mans sighte did lighte and arrest apon the Standard of Albry. |
† 3. To rest, repose (in confidence). Obs.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxlii. 358 One submyssion, wheron the kyng and his counsayle arested moost. |
† 4. To rest or dwell upon (a subject). (Cf. 8) Obs.
| a 1619 Donne Biathan. (1644) 182 We must arrest awhile vpon the nature, and degrees, and effects of charity. |
5. Med. To suffer cardiac arrest.
| 1982 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Nov. 1373/1 She might arrest postoperatively. 1985 Verbatim Winter 3/2 The patient never dies, though he may arrest (short for ‘suffer cardiac arrest’). |
II. trans. (and refl.) To cause to stop, detain.
6. To cause to stop; to stop the course of: a. a person or animal. Obs. in literal sense since 1600, but still used in reference to a course of action, where it passes into 15 b.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 281 His host all than arestit he. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 829 Oure ost bigan his hors areste. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xli. 8 As they wenten, mochel folk they fownde that hem arested. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccclxxiv. 620, I arest you all, so that ye shall nat departe this day. a 1540 Christis Kirk of Gr. vi, Steven cam steppand in with stendis, Na rynk mycht him arreist. 1668 Shadwell Sullen Lovers i. i. Wks. 1720 I. 19 As I was coming..Sir Positive At-all, that fool..arrests me with his impertinence. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. lvi. 365 In the pursuit of greatness he was never arrested by the scruples of justice. 1803 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 26 Mr. Pitt's resuming office would arrest Buonaparte in his..career. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiii. 252 The five Danite warriors, as they pass by..are arrested by the sound of a well-known voice. |
b. a thing; usually a stream or train of things in motion or progress.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 7 He gert arest all his battale. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. vi. 29 Þe fletyng streme..is arestid and resisted ofte tyme by þe encountrynge of a stoon. 1634 Malory's Arthur (1816) I. 158 That all the navy of the land should be arrested. 1635 Quarles Emblems iii. xiii. (1718) 177 Forbear t' arrest My thriftless day too soon. 1650 Fuller Pisgah Sight ii. x. 211 Where Joshua's prayer arrested the moon to stand still. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 332 The mountains..attract, and as it were arrest, the vapours and the rain that float in the atmosphere. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 133 Many springs..in winter are arrested by the frost. 1869 Phillips Vesuv. vii. 195 These deep cavities have often arrested the lava-currents. 1871 Macduff Mem. Patmos vii. 91 Has He arrested the axe, and revoked the sentence? 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. iii. xxiii. 197 Her tears were arrested. 1879 Lockyer Elem. Astron. ix. xlviii. 293 The cannon-ball will in time be arrested by the resistance of the air. |
c. motion, course, pace; growth, decay, etc.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. i. 32 Enforcest þou þe to aresten or wiþstanden þe swyftnesse..of hir tournyng. 1699 Dryden Theod. & Hon. 181 My Dogs with better speed Arrest her Flight. 1877 E. Conder Bas. Faith Pref. 12 The pace..too rapid to be thus led or arrested. 1879 Carpenter Mental Phys. i. ii. §54 Its progress is arrested. |
d. in Law, to arrest judgement: to stay proceedings after a verdict, on the ground of error.
| 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 395 If judgment is not by some of these means arrested. 1871 Archbold Crim. Plead. (ed. 17) 170 If the judgment be arrested, all the proceedings are set aside, and judgment of acquittal is given. |
† 7. refl. To stop, stand still. (Cf. 1.) Obs. (Fr. s'arrêter.)
| a 1470 Tiptoft Cæsar's Comm. iv. (1530) 4 They marveylyd greatly and arested themself. |
† 8. refl. To rest oneself, remain, tarry. (Cf. 2.) Obs.
| 1543 Grafton Cont. Harding's Chron. 531 He and his compaignie, after their laboures, arested thaim for the space of iii. dayes. 1563 ― Chron. Rich. I, an. 8 (R.) When he had arested him a little while, he then roade..to Notingham. |
† 9. trans. and refl. To keep our minds, ourselves, resting or fixed upon the consideration of a subject.
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) i. vii, And who soo hym wyll areest in this medytacyon he there shall fynde, etc. 1626 T. Ailesbury Passion-serm. 9 Let us arest our selves awhile upon his foretold passions. a 1667 Jer. Taylor (in Webster) We may arrest our thoughts upon the divine mercies. |
III. trans. To stop and lay hold of.
10. gen. To catch, capture, seize, lay hold upon. Obs. exc. as fig. use of next.
| 1481 Caxton Myrrour ii. v. 70 Bestes..whiche..haue so grete vngles or clawes that areste alle that they can holde. 1509 Hawes Joyf. Med. 13 Dethe by his course naturall Hathe him arested. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 44 Whenas Morpheus had with leaden mace Arrested all that courtly company. 1718 Pope Iliad xv. 527 The pointed death arrests him from behind. 1791 Cowper Iliad, Well skilled..to rouse and with unerring aim arrest All savage kinds that haunt the mountain wilds. a 1883 Ruskin in Royal Acad. Catal. 12 We cannot arrest sunsets nor carve mountains. |
11. esp. To capture, seize, lay hold upon, or apprehend by legal authority; ‘to restrain a man of his liberty, obliging him to be obedient to the law.’
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 174 He was arestyt syne and tane. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 268 Tho bad the king men shulde areste His body. a 1400 Chester Pl. 182 The Kinge hase commaunded me All suche for to areiste. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 264 The kyng..ded his officeres arestin..the Duke of Gloucetir. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. 23 Some 'rest men gyltles & caste them in pryson. 1589 Hay any Work 40 The Wardens..rested him with a Purciuant. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 201, I Arrest thee of High Treason. 1745 De Foe Eng. Tradesm. I. xxix. 293 Sends an officer..and arrests him for the money. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 27 It was deemed advisable to arrest the Holy Maid of Kent. |
12. transf. To seize (property) by legal warrant. (Now only in Scotch and Admiralty Law.)
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 119 Twenty pounds of money, which must be paid..His horses are arrested for it. 1599 Greene George a Gr. (1861) 263 George will arrest his pledge unto the pound. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 61 His gudes may be arreisted. 1638 Cotton Tower Rec. 15 He arrested all the Tinne in South-hampton, and sold it to his owne present use. 1861 Riley tr. Liber Albus 39 All his goods, lands, and tenements shall be arrested for all expenses. 1869 Law Rep., Adm. & Eccl. II. 363 The Roecliff was arrested in a cause of collision. 1881 Maude & Pollock Merch. Ship. (ed. 4) I. 619 In this form of action [in rem] the ship, and, if necessary, the freight, may be arrested. |
13. fig. To take as security.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 160 We arrest your word. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. iv. 134. |
† 14. To fix, bind, pledge, engage. Obs.
| 1489 Caxton Faytes of Armes iv. vii. 246 Two knyghtes had arrested themself for to fight one ayenst that other. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. xxiii, Thy beaute therto dyd me sure arest. |
15. a. trans. To catch and fix (the sight, hearing, attention, mind, etc.).
| 1814 Byron Corsair iii. i, The gleaming turret..and yon solitary palm arrest the eye. 1873 Geo. Eliot Middlem. xliii, Her mind was evidently arrested by some sudden thought. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 185 Their attention was arrested by the rapid progress of Hasdrubal. |
b. To catch and fix the attention of (a person). This passes into 6 a, since it may result in a literal stopping of action or motion.
| 1835 Macready Remin. I. 456 [I was] arrested and held by the interest of the story. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 13 Years had over-laid it with another likeness which would have arrested her. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. ii. 29 Language which is altogether tremendous; it arrests us, it astonishes us. |
¶ catachr. To wrest.
| 1593 Bilson Govt. Christes Ch., Not to suffer the sacred scriptures to be so violently arrested. 1656 Milton Lett. State Wks. 1738 II. 227 In great danger of having them arrested out of his hands by Force and Violence. |
▪ II. arrest, n.1
(əˈrɛst)
Forms: 4–5 areste, areest, 4–7 arest, 5 arreste, 5– arrest. Aphet. 6–7 rest(e.
[a. OF. areste stoppage, delay, and arest act of arresting.]
I. Senses pertaining to the intransitive vb.
† 1. The act of standing still, halting, or stopping; stoppage, stop, halt, delay. Obs. without arrest: cf. without abode (Chaucer, Lydgate, and Sc. poets).
| 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 356 The folk fled..For-outen arest. Ibid. xvii. 844 For southren men vald that he maid Arest thar. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1929 Withoute areste [v.r. arest, arreste, areest]..He wolde him ete. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy. i. ix, To whom Castor withouten more areste Hath..gyue a mortall wounde. c 1500 Lancelot 3307 Non abaid he makith, nor arest. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. v. 119 Mercuir, but arest, Drest to obey his gret faderis behest. 1598 Florio, Posate, arests which a horse doth make in advancing his forepart. |
† 2. Remaining, abiding, continuance. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. (Wright) [342] An irous man is lik a frentik best In which ther is of wisdom noon arrest. |
† 3. Abiding-place, abode, mansion. Obs.
| a 1400 Coventry Myst. (Shaks. Soc. 1841) 91 Welcome, Joachym, onto myn areste, Bothe Anne thi wyff and Mary clere. c 1400 Epiph. (Turnb. 1843) 158 A mey hym harburd yn hur hall..And held that hend yn hur arest. |
† 4. in arrest: in rest, as a lance. at arrest: at attention. Obs.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 7563 Thou here watchest at the gate, With spere in thine arest alweye. c 1440 Morte Arth. 548 That they be redye in araye, and at areste foundyne. 1481 Caxton Tulle of Old Age ix. 8 (R.) He mowntyng upon his courser, and his spere in his arrest, spurrid on his horse. |
II. From the transitive vb.
5. a. The act of stopping anything in its course; a stop put to anything, stoppage, stay, check.
| c 1400 Test. Love ii. (1560) 285 b/2 Mallice..slily to bridle, and with a good bitte of areste to withdraw. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxcviii. 689 Certayne arest of this warre. 1625 Bacon Empire, Ess. (Arb.) 297 That they must have some Checke or Arrest in their Fortunes. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. ii. 155 Words are the arrest of the desires, and keep the spirit fixt. 1665 Glanvill Sceps. Sci. 49 An arrest of all ingenious and practical indeavour. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xvii. 150 These [bristles] as well as the scales..are..points of arrest, in each wing. 1879 Timbs in Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 119/2 A partial arrest of the vital processes. |
b. Med. A sudden, sometimes temporary, cessation of function of an organ or system, spec. the heart. Cf. cardiac arrest s.v. cardiac a. 1.
| 1883 Jrnl. Physiol. IV. 35 Calcium oxide..or calcium chloride, added to saline solution, prevent the weakening and arrest of the ventricle which occurs with saline solution alone. 1904 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. XI. 372 Certain conclusions can be drawn with regard to the arrest of the heart caused by this reagent. 1939 Lancet 4 Nov. 970/1 Houssay and Hug..found that respiration and even reflexes might return after arrest of the circulation for 5 min. 1944 R. C. Adams Intravenous Anesthesia xxv. 471 Respiratory arrest was usually followed by a rise in blood pressure. 1950, etc. [see cardiac arrest s.v. cardiac a. 1]. 1962 J. H. Burn Drugs, Med. & Man ix. 99 It was realized that arrest of the patient's respiration might sometimes assist the surgeon. 1977 Lancet 11 June 1224/1, 385 arrests happened in casualty, with 49 survivors. 1982 Macmillan Guide Family Health 388/1 When coronary heart disease is not to blame, the cause of the arrest is sometimes a disorder of rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation. |
6. In Law, arrest of judgement: a stay of proceedings, after a verdict for the plaintiff or the Crown, on the ground of manifest error therein.
| 1660 Trial Regicides 94, I may do it in Arrest of Judgment. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 393 Whatever is alleged in arrest of judgment must be such matter, as would upon demurrer have been sufficient to overturn the action or plea. 1772 Junius Lett. Pref. 14 If the paper be not criminal..he may move the court in arrest of judgment. 1841 Brewster Martyrs Sc. v. (1856) 79 Galileo might have pleaded them with success in arrest of judgement. |
7. The act of seizing or laying hold of; seizure. lit. and fig.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 80, I saugh a beest, Was lik an hound, and wold have maad arrest Upon my body, and wold han had me deed. 1622 Heylin Cosmogr. i. (1682) 183 Aquitain and the rest of the English Provinces were seized on by the French..But notwithstanding this arrest, the English still continued their pretentions to it. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xviii. (1865) 135 The first arrests of sleep. |
8. spec. ‘The apprehending or restraining of one's person, in order to be forthcoming to answer an alleged or suspected crime.’ Blackstone.
| 1440 Promp. Parv., A-reste, or a-restynge, Arestacio. 1576 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1862) 179 To make arrest of all such as..provoked to the Pope. 1590 Greene Neuer too late (1600) 56 His creditours threatned him with an arrest. 1619 Dalton Countr. Just. cxviii. (1630) 335 An arrest..may be called the beginning of imprisonment. 1876 Green Short Hist. vii. (1877) 348 The Duke of Norfolk had been charged with the minister's arrest. 1880 Muirhead Gaius iv. §21 The latter was not allowed to resist the arrest or defend himself in person. |
9. a. The condition resulting from being arrested; custody, imprisonment, durance.
| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 452 [Man] dwelleth eek in prisoun and arreste. 1647 Cowley Mistress Wks. 1710 I. 152 Now I suffer an Arrest. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. i. ii. 212 The Forty hath decreed a month's arrest. |
b. under (an) arrest: under legal restraint, in the hands of the law, arrested.
| c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 38 In libertee and vnder noon arreest. c 1500 Lancelot 912 [He] stood under hir arest. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 135 If I could speake so wisely vnder an arrest, I would send for certaine of my Creditors. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 105 ¶2 Poor Will was under an Arrest, and desired the Assistance of all..or he must go to Gaol. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xii. 39 Sir, consider yourself under an arrest. 1860 Froude Hist. Eng. VI. 60 Lord Russell was soon after placed under arrest. |
10. fig.
| c 1430 Hymns to Virg. (1867) 71 Godis seruauntis in areest haþ þee take. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 95 The arest of death shall not alwayes keepe him that lyes downe in peace. 1642 Rogers Naaman 18 Paul being under the arrest of God's might and power, lay for dead. 1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra (1867) 268 Satan claps an arrest upon him of a far greater debt than God chargeth upon him. 1873 tr. Van Oostersee's Chr. Dogm. lxxviii. 430 Guilt is the conscious arrest of our life under the Divine law. |
11. transf. Of a ship.
| 1848 Arnould Law Mar. Insur. iii. ii. (1866) II. 706 Arrest is a temporary detention of ship, etc. with a view to ultimately releasing it, or repaying its value. |
12. The act of arresting (the attention).
| 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. I. xvii. 341 This strong arrest of his attention made him cease singing. |
† 13. A judgement, decree, order, or sentence; prop. of a French supreme court of law; also transf. and fig. Obs., and replaced by arrêt from mod.Fr.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. 203, I obeyed his rest; there was no remedy. [1553–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 7/2 By the Arestum of the Councell of Paris anno 1463.] 1599 Sandys Europ. Spec. (1632) 130 To dispense with God's Law in this world, and to alter his arrests and judgements in the other. 1600 Holland Livy xlii. ix. 1120 That the arest [senatus consultum] devised against him might be reversed. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 67 He sends out Arrests On Fortinbras, which he (in breife) obeyes. 1699 Lond. Gaz. mmmdxxxii/3 An Arrest will shortly be published for raising to 13 Livers the old Lewis d'Or and the Spanish Pistols. 1721 C. King Brit. Merch. I. 231 By an Arrest of Council in France..the strict execution of that edict is enjoin'd. |
▪ III. aˈrrest, n.2 ? Obs.
[a. F. areste (14–16th c. arreste):—L. arista: see arête.]
(See quot.; both senses occur in mod.Fr.)
| 1639 T. de Grey Compl. Horsem. 81 Rat-tayles..which now we doe call the Arraistes. 1731 Bailey, Arrests, mangey tumours upon the sinews of the hinder-legs of a horse between the ham and the pastern. 1742 ― Arrests, the small Bones of a Fish. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Arrests or Arrets, among farriers..called also Rat-tails. The name is taken from the resemblance they bear to the Arretes, or backbones of fishes. |