Dictionary.com
definitions

beleaguer

[bih-lee-ger]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR beleaguer ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to surround with military forces.
to surround or beset, as with troubles.

RELATED CONTENT

Around the Web: Duffins and Dead Apostrophes
In our research and general perusal, we’re lucky enough to encounter great original language analysis that we don’t always have the chance to fully explore in our blog. To bring these conversations to our readers, we’re introducing a new weekly series, “Around the Web,” which will collect and distill language news from–you guessed it–around the web. So here’s what was going on this week: In a …
READ MORE
What Do You Think the 2013 Word of the Year Should Be?
Read more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

beset, bedevil, plague, annoy, gnaw, nag, tease, bother, pester, vex, blockade, persecute, storm, harry, worry, badger, siege

Origin of beleaguer

First recorded in 1580–90; be- + leaguer1
Related formsbe·lea·guer·er, noun

Synonyms for beleaguer

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR beleaguer ON THESAURUS.COM
2. harass, pester, badger, bother, vex, annoy, plague, hector.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for beleaguer

Historical Examples of beleaguer

  • Should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.'

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Make a detour through some pass, forestall your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops!

    The Dramatic Values in Plautus

    Wilton 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 Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Having pardoned their offences against ourselves, we went back to beleaguer Samarkand.

    The Bbur-nma in English

    Babur, 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.

British Dictionary definitions for beleaguer

beleaguer

verb (tr)

to trouble persistently; harass
to lay siege to

Word Origin for beleaguer

C16: from be- + leaguer 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper