besiege
/bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/ verb
Forms besieges besieging besieged
- verb (transitive) To beset or surround with armed forces for the purpose of compelling to surrender, to lay siege to, beleaguer.
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To beleaguer, to vex, to lay siege to, to beset.
- verb (transitive) To assail or ply, as with requests or demands. “The box office was besieged by fans wanting tickets.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English besegen, bisegen, equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + siege.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To beset or surround with armed forces, for the purpose of compelling to surrender; to lay siege to; to beleaguer; to beset.
Etymology [OE. bisegen; pref. be- + segen to siege. See Siege.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “besiege”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details