Collaring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of placing a collar around an animal's or person's neck ; the action of catching or seizing a person, often by law enforcement
2. Securing a band or strap around a creature's neck for control or identification ; the process of detaining or apprehending an individual
3. Fitting a collar on someone or something as a form of restraint or identification ; capturing or taking hold of a person, especially by authority

Etymology: The verb "collaring" is simply the present participle of "collar," so its story is really the story of the neck-band it describes. That band traces back to Latin "collum," meaning "neck," which gave rise to Late Latin "collare" and then Old French "coler," the ancestor of modern French "collier." English picked up the word in Middle English as "coler," and the same Latin root also produced a close relative in English, "collet," the small ring or setting that holds a gem or a part in place. The sense of restraint and capture grew naturally from the object. A collar fastened around a neck is a practical way to hold on to an animal or a prisoner, so to collar someone came to mean seizing them, first physically and then by authority. The earlier, literal act of putting a band around a neck is still present in the word's meaning, even when the seizing is done by someone who never touches a collar at all.

Synonyms: choking, grasping