Detention vs. Arrest — What's the Difference?

The action of detaining someone or the state of being detained in official custody

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.

The act of detaining.

To stop; check

A period of temporary custody while awaiting trial.

To seize and hold under the authority of law.

A holding of a person in custody or confinement by authorities for political or military reasons.

To capture and hold briefly (the attention, for example); engage.

A form of punishment by which a student is made to stay after regular school hours.

To undergo cardiac arrest

(uncountable) The act of detaining or the state of being detained.

The act of detaining in legal custody

(countable) A temporary state of custody or confinement.

The state of being so detained

(law) Confinement of a prisoner awaiting trial.

A device for stopping motion, especially of a moving part.

(pedagogy) A punishment given to a student for a minor infraction, typically requiring the student to report to a designated room during recess or outside of school hours to work on homework or perform busywork.

The act of stopping or the condition of being stopped.

(civil law) The bare physical control without the mental element of intention required for possession.

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

The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding.

The condition of being stopped, standstill.

The state of being detained (stopped or hindered); delay from necessity.

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

Confinement; restraint; custody.

A confinement, detention, as after an arrest.

A state of being confined (usually for a short time);

A device to physically arrest motion.

A punishment in which a student must stay at school after others have gone home;

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

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

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

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

To stay, remain.

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

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

(transitive) To catch the attention of.

To undergo cardiac arrest.

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

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

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

To rest or fasten; to fix; to concentrate.

To tarry; to rest.

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

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

Any seizure by power, physical or moral.

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

The act of apprehending (especially apprehending a criminal);

The state of inactivity following an interruption;

Take into custody;

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

Attract and fix;

Cause to stop;