Stopped working, dear, to take a break inside (8)
I believe the answer is:
arrested
'stopped' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'working dear to take a break inside' is the wordplay.
'working' indicates an anagram.
'to take a break' becomes 'rest' (resting is a kind of taking a break).
'inside' is an insertion indicator.
'dear' with letters rearranged gives 'ared'.
'ared' enclosing 'rest' is 'ARRESTED'.
(Other definitions for arrested that I've seen before include "on the way to . . . [PRISON] ?" , "stalled" , "Taken into police custody" , "Stopped or slowed down progress" , "Stopped or slowed down development" .)