Meanings
present singular third person dearrests · participle present dearresting · participle past dearrested · past dearrested · alternative de-arrest
- transitiveTo release (a person) from arrest.
There is a question mark over how disruptive that was, in the great scheme of things, but it was enough for the police to arrest and handcuff him, later to de-arrest him on the understanding that he would be questioned in the future.
2022 September 12, Zoe Williams, “Why are people getting arrested in Britain for being republicans?”, in The Guardian2 more examples
Around midday, a 28-year-old local man was briefly arrested after he came close to the prime minister's group who had just left the Civic Hall in Leeds. No threats were made, and after the man's details were checked, he was de-arrested and allowed on his way.
2014 October 27, BBC, “Jogger in PM security alert had 'no idea' what happened”, in BBC NewsDuring the main pro-Palestinian protest march, a further man was arrested for assault during an altercation between protesters and counter protesters in order to prevent a breach of the peace. After officers fully reviewed footage provided of the incident he was later de-arrested.
2024 March 9, Metropolitan Police, “Update on Met public order policing on 9 March”, in Policing operation, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2024Synonyms: disarrest
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo release (a person) from arrest.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Englishde-
- Englisharrest
- Englishdearrest
Translations
Finnish vapauttaa, päästää vapaalle jalalle
- vapauttaato release from arrest
- päästää vapaalle jalalleto release from arrest
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dearrest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearrest
“dearrest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearrest. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dearrest,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearrest.
Source: dearrest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.