beleaguer
[bih-lee-ger]
- to surround with military forces.
- to surround or beset, as with troubles.
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Origin of beleaguer
Synonyms
See more synonyms for beleaguer on Thesaurus.com2. harass, pester, badger, bother, vex, annoy, plague, hector.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for beleaguer
Historical Examples
Should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.'
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
Make a detour through some pass, forestall your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops!
The Dramatic Values in PlautusWilton Wallace Blancke
And yet I cannot think that any Scottish or French rovers could land in such force as to beleaguer the fortalice.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Having pardoned their offences against ourselves, we went back to beleaguer Samarkand.
The Bbur-nma in EnglishBabur, Emperor of Hindustan
In his tragedy of Ezelino, after the tyrant's downfall, a captain is sent to beleaguer Treviso, and reduce Ezelino's garrison.
The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the firstCount Carlo Gozzi
beleaguer
- to trouble persistently; harass
- to lay siege to
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Word Origin
C16: from be- + leaguer 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for beleaguer
v.
1580s, from Dutch or Low German belegeren "to besiege," from be- "around" (see be-) + legeren "to camp," from leger "bed, camp, army, lair," from Proto-Germanic *leg-raz-, from PIE *legh-to- "lie" (see lie (v.2)). A word from the Flemish Wars (cf. Swedish belägra, Dutch belegeren "besiege," German Belagerung "siege"). Spelling influenced by league. Related: Beleaguered; beleaguering.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper