arresting

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of arrest.

   Officers were arresting protesters near the square all afternoon.

   Arresting the spread of the infection became the clinic's first priority.

   Note

   Behind this -ing form stand several verbs at once. With be it builds progressives (officers were arresting protesters), and as a gerund it names the act itself (arresting decline, arresting a suspect). Used intransitively, it can mean going into cardiac arrest, as in a patient who is arresting. The old senses of halting someone's motion or simply staying put are obsolete, so the live choices are law, medicine and stopping a process.

2. 2
   adjective

   Striking enough to catch and hold the attention; vividly impressive.

   The documentary opens with an arresting image of the abandoned city.

   Her arresting argument forced the committee to reconsider its decision.

   Similarstriking, compelling, eye-catching, captivating, gripping

   Oppositedull, unremarkable, bland, forgettable

   Note

   The participle turned adjective, grown from arrest in its "catch the attention of" meaning. Unlike the verb form, it can be graded: a more arresting image, the most arresting line in the speech. That test separates it from the verb form. Police can be arresting a suspect, but no one is ever more arresting in that sense, because degree belongs only to the adjective.

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