1. One who takes another person into legal custody: Arresters, as police can be, have the duty to apprehend those who have broken the law, and they can be thieves, robbers, raiders, muggers, swindlers, etc.
2. A device that slows down and stops motion, especially one with wires for slowing aircraft while landing: The cables for the arrester on the runway could be seen when leaving the plane after arrival.

1. An apparatus used to switch to ground high-energy surges, reducing transient energy to a level safe for secondary protectors; for example, silicon rectifiers (electrical devices that have a higher conductance for current flowing in one direction than for current flowing in the opposite direction), Zener diodes (types of diodes that permit electric current not only in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction), etc.

A surge arrester is a protective device designed primarily for the connection between a conductor of an electrical system and ground to limit the magnitude of transient overvoltages on equipment. A lightning arrester is really a voltage-surge arrester.