To take by legal authority: (a) To arrest by writ, and
   bring before a court, as to answer for a debt, or a contempt; --
   applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being now rarely
   used for the arrest of a criminal. (b) To seize or take (goods or real
   estate) by virtue of a writ or precept to hold the same to satisfy a
   judgment which may be rendered in the suit. See Attachment, 4.