verb
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to surround (a fortified area, esp a city) with military forces to bring about its surrender
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to crowd round; hem in
-
to overwhelm, as with requests or queries
Other Word Forms
- besiegement noun
- besieger noun
- besiegingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of besiege
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English bysegen; be-, siege
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One scene that stuck with me: As Union troops besiege Atlanta, shells are exploding, people flee in panic.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2025
The feeling of being in a great city as raging infernos besiege it but don’t quite subsume it?
From Slate • Jan. 9, 2025
"If they besiege us here, where can we go then? How long will this suffering continue? We have been displaced about six or seven times," he said.
From BBC • Dec. 30, 2024
That decision to besiege rather than directly attack the giant Azovstal plant means that “many Russian units remain fixed in the city and cannot be redeployed,” the British assessment said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2022
Adah the Poor Thing, hemiplegious egregious besiege us.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
