arrest

Compared meaning: to catch and take someone into police custody (verb).

比较义项：逮捕（动词）。

• arrest 本词

  The most common, neutral term for taking someone into police custody by legal authority; used in everyday news and formal contexts alike, and works as both a verb and a noun.

  最常用、最中性正式的说法，指依法将某人拘捕；日常新闻和正式场合都适用，既可作动词也可作名词。

  Police arrested the suspect at his home early this morning.

  警方今天清晨在嫌疑人家中将其逮捕。

• apprehend

  More formal and bureaucratic than arrest, common in official reports and news headlines; emphasizes finally catching a suspect who was being actively sought or was on the run.

  比 arrest 更正式、更书面化，常见于官方报道和新闻标题，强调抓获一名正在被通缉或在逃的嫌疑人。

  Detectives finally apprehended the fugitive after a three-day manhunt.

  经过三天的搜捕，警探终于抓获了那名在逃嫌犯。

• nab

  An informal, colloquial word suggesting a quick, clever or lucky catch, often of a thief or minor offender; it never appears in formal, legal or official writing.

  非正式口语词，暗示迅速、巧妙或幸运地抓获某人，常用于描述抓小偷等轻微违法者，不用于正式或法律文本。

  Security guards managed to nab the shoplifter before he left the store.

  保安在小偷离开商店之前将他抓住了。

Arrest, apprehend, and nab all mean to catch someone by police authority. Arrest is the most common, neutral word. Apprehend is more formal, common in official reports and news, and stresses catching a wanted suspect. Nab is informal, suggesting a quick or lucky catch.

这三个词都表示依法抓获、拘捕某人，但语体和语气不同：arrest 是最常用、最中性正式的说法；apprehend 更书面正式，常见于官方报道，强调抓获被通缉的嫌疑人；nab 是非正式口语词，带有迅速、巧妙或幸运抓获的意味，多用于描述抓小偷等场景。

Compared meaning: to stop or slow down a harmful process (verb).

比较义项：阻止、抑制某种进程的发展（动词）。

• check

  More common and general; used for slowing or halting the growth, spread or increase of a rate, trend or feeling; can mean partial slowing, not necessarily complete stop; common in everyday and news contexts.

  更常见、更通用；用于减缓或阻止某种比率、趋势或情绪的增长或蔓延；可以表示部分减缓，不一定完全停止；常见于日常用语和新闻语境中。

  Rising interest rates helped check inflation over the past year.

  利率上升帮助抑制了去年的通货膨胀。

• arrest 本词

  More formal and literary; usually implies stopping something harmful or undesirable abruptly and completely, often used with disease, decay or development; rare in everyday speech.

  更正式、更书面化；通常表示突然、彻底地阻止某种有害或不良的进程，常与疾病、衰退或发展等词搭配；日常口语中较少使用。

  Doctors managed to arrest the spread of the infection with strong antibiotics.

  医生们通过强效抗生素成功阻止了感染的蔓延。

Check and arrest can both mean to stop a harmful process. Check is common, meaning to slow or partly control a trend or feeling. Arrest is formal, meaning to stop something harmful, like a disease, suddenly and completely. Not compared: check (inspect), arrest (detain).

这两个词在此义项中都指阻止某个（通常是消极的）进程发展，但语气和使用场景不同：check 更常用、更口语化，常指减缓或部分遏制某种趋势或情绪；arrest 更正式、更书面化，通常指彻底、突然地阻止有害进程（如疾病、衰退），日常口语中较少使用。这里不比较 check 的其他义项（如“检查、核对”）和 arrest 的其他义项（如“逮捕”）。