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. 1614. Donne, Βιαθανατος (1644), 182. We must arrest awhile vpon the nature, and degrees, and effects of charity.
II. trans. (and refl.) To cause to stop, detain.
5. 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 14 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.
1470–85. (1634), Malory, 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 judgment: 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.
† 6. 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.
† 7. refl. To rest oneself, remain, tarry. (Cf. 2.) Obs.
1543. Grafton, Contn. Harding’s Chron., 531. He and his compaignie, after their laboures, arested thaim for the space of iii. dayes. Ibid. (1563), Chron. Rich. I., an. 8 (R.). When he had arested him a little while, he then roade … to Notingham.
† 8. 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. Ailesbury, Passion-serm., 9. Let us arest our selves awhile upon his foretold passions.
1651. Jer. Taylor, Serm. Golden Grove, Summer, xxvi. 338. We may arrest our thoughts upon the Divine mercies.
III. trans. To stop and lay hold of.
9. 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. V. 60. Well skill’d was he 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.
10. 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. 266. 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. 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. Shaks., 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.
11. transf. To seize (property) by legal warrant. (Now only in Scotch and Admiralty Law.)
1598. Shaks., 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, trans. 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.
12. fig. To take as security.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 160. We arrest your word. Ibid. (1603), Meas. for M., II. iv. 134. I do arrest your words.
† 13. 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.
14. 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. Bosw. 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 2 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.
