besiege

[ bih-seej ]

/ bɪˈsidʒ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: besiege / besiegement on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), be·sieged, be·sieg·ing.

to lay siege to.

to crowd around; crowd in upon; surround: Vacationers besieged the travel office.

to assail or ply, as with requests or demands.

OTHER WORDS FOR besiege

3 beset, pester, harass, harry, hound.

See synonyms for besiege on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of besiege

First recorded in 1250–1300, besiege is from the Middle English word bysegen.See be-, siege

OTHER WORDS FROM besiege

be·siege·ment, nounbe·sieg·er, nounbe·sieg·ing·ly, adverbun·be·sieged, adjective

Words nearby besiege

Besht, beside, beside oneself, besides, beside the point, besiege, Beskids, Beslan, slated for, be, beslobber, besmear

How to use besiege in a sentence

Over $900 million of pandemic relief funding has been appropriated for charter schools, even as researchers have documented that those schools are besieged by their own challenges and often fare no better than public schools.
Organized teachers dreamed up charter schools — but their vision got hijacked|Jon Hale|August 25, 2021|Washington Post
Whereupon Miller and Winebrenner were besieged with requests for cash, gifts, charitable donations and meetings.
Powerball mystery: Someone in this tiny town won $731 million. Now everyone wants a piece of it.|Marc Fisher|June 17, 2021|Washington Post
When the rebels met with the besieged king in London, they demanded the statute repealed.
Pandemics have long created labor shortages. Here’s why.|Spencer Strub|June 3, 2021|Washington Post
I’ll be besieging you with reminders in this space in the coming months.
Style Conversational Week 1438: The old college try|Pat Myers|May 27, 2021|Washington Post

The Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, ended the immediate violence, the most pressing need for a territory that had been besieged by Israeli airstrikes for 11 days.
The fighting in Gaza is over. The humanitarian crisis isn’t.|Jen Kirby|May 21, 2021|Vox
And I will make a circle round about thee, and I will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
One is that the English should have gone so far out of their way as to besiege Dunaverty so zealously, or at all.
King Robert the Bruce|A. F. Murison
Towards the end of March 1312 he was preparing to besiege Berwick with an unusually large force.
King Robert the Bruce|A. F. Murison
He was able to invade the latter country in force, and to besiege the city of Urmi for some weeks in the early seventies.
The Cradle of Mankind|W.A. Wigram
Not long after Guise's approach, fearing that his design was to besiege the city of Orleans, Coligny threw himself into it.
History of the Rise of the Huguenots|Henry Baird

British Dictionary definitions for besiege

besiege

/ (bɪˈsiːdʒ) /

verb (tr)

to surround (a fortified area, esp a city) with military forces to bring about its surrender

to crowd round; hem in

to overwhelm, as with requests or queries

Derived forms of besiege

besieger, noun

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

besiege

OTHER WORDS FOR besiege

Origin of besiege

OTHER WORDS FROM besiege

Words nearby besiege

Words related to besiege

How to use besiege in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for besiege

Derived forms of besiege