Detain vs. Arrest

Detainverb

(transitive) To keep someone from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention.

Arrestnoun

A check, stop, an act or instance of arresting something.

Detainverb

(transitive) To put under custody.

Arrestnoun

The condition of being stopped, standstill.

Detainverb

(transitive) To keep back or from; to withhold.

Arrestnoun

(legal) The process of arresting a criminal, suspect etc.

Detainverb

(transitive) To seize goods for official purposes.

Arrestnoun

A confinement, detention, as after an arrest.

Detainverb

To keep back or from; to withhold.

‘Detain not the wages of the hireling.’;

Arrestnoun

A device to physically arrest motion.

Detainverb

To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident.

‘Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.’;

Arrestnoun

(nautical) The judicial detention of a ship to secure a financial claim against its operators.

Detainverb

To hold or keep in custody.

Arrestnoun

(obsolete) Any seizure by power, physical or otherwise.

Detainnoun

Detention.

Arrestnoun

(farriery) A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse.

Detainverb

deprive of freedom; take into confinement

Arrestverb

To stop the motion of (a person or animal).

Detainverb

stop or halt;

‘Please stay the bloodshed!’;

Arrestverb

To stay, remain.

Detainverb

cause to be slowed down or delayed;

‘Traffic was delayed by the bad weather’; ‘she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform’;

Arrestverb

(transitive) To stop or slow (a process, course etc.).

Arrestverb

(transitive) To seize (someone) with the authority of the law; to take into legal custody.

‘The police have arrested a suspect in the murder inquiry.’;

Arrestverb

(transitive) To catch the attention of.

Arrestverb

To stop; to check or hinder the motion or action of; as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the senses.

‘Nor could her virtues the relentless handOf Death arrest.’;

Arrestverb

To take, seize, or apprehend by authority of law; as, to arrest one for debt, or for a crime.

Arrestverb

To seize on and fix; to hold; to catch; as, to arrest the eyes or attention.

Arrestverb

To rest or fasten; to fix; to concentrate.

‘We may arrest our thoughts upon the divine mercies.’;

Arrestverb

To tarry; to rest.

Arrestnoun

The act of stopping, or restraining from further motion, etc.; stoppage; hindrance; restraint; as, an arrest of development.

‘As the arrest of the air showeth.’;

Arrestnoun

The taking or apprehending of a person by authority of law; legal restraint; custody. Also, a decree, mandate, or warrant.

‘William . . . ordered him to be put under arrest.’; ‘[Our brother Norway] sends out arrestsOn Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys.’;

Arrestnoun

Any seizure by power, physical or moral.

‘The sad stories of fire from heaven, the burning of his sheep, etc., . . . were sad arrests to his troubled spirit.’;

Arrestnoun

A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse; - also named rat-tails.

Arrestnoun

the act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal);

‘the policeman on the beat got credit for the collar’;

Arrestnoun

the state of inactivity following an interruption;

‘the negotiations were in arrest’; ‘held them in check’; ‘during the halt he got some lunch’; ‘the momentary stay enabled him to escape the blow’; ‘he spent the entire stop in his seat’;

Arrestverb

take into custody;

‘the police nabbed the suspected criminals’;

Arrestverb

hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of;

‘Arrest the downward trend’; ‘Check the growth of communism in Sout East Asia’; ‘Contain the rebel movement’; ‘Turn back the tide of communism’;

Arrestverb

attract and fix;

‘His look caught her’; ‘She caught his eye’; ‘Catch the attention of the waiter’;

Arrestverb

cause to stop;

‘Halt the engines’; ‘Arrest the progress’; ‘halt the presses’;

Arrest

An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questioned further and/or charged.