beleaguer

[bih-lee-ger]

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verb (used with object)

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

Origin of beleaguer

First recorded in 1580–90; be- + leaguer¹

Related formsbe·lea·guer·er, noun

Synonyms for beleaguer

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2. harass, pester, badger, bother, vex, annoy, plague, hector.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for beleaguer

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

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.
The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the first
Count Carlo Gozzi

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

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.