besieged

[bih-seejd]

adjective

1. (of a fortified place) under siege; surrounded by enemy forces and cut off from help or supplies.

   The security forces downplayed the situation, claiming that local authorities were still in full control of the besieged city.

2. surrounded by crowds.

   He was charged with inciting to "mass disturbance" the more than 1,000 people who congregated close to the besieged police station.

3. assailed or inundated with requests or demands.

   Apart from the hero, every man in this movie is a rustic bigot, and every woman a besieged housewife.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of besiege.

Other Word Forms

• unbesieged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of besieged¹

First recorded in 1425–75; besiege ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; besiege ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

At least 60 people have been killed in a drone strike at a displacement shelter in el-Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city on the brink of collapse.

Read more on BBC

A drone and artillery attack killed at least 60 people at a displacement camp in Sudan's El-Fasher on Saturday, activists said, as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces intensifies its assault on the besieged western city.

Read more on Barron's

A new carbon-credit project in southern Africa wants to embrace companies’ desire for climate neutrality while distancing itself from problems that have besieged the market in recent years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Democrats are besieged by the young and progressive, Republicans experiencing a pushing away from Israel on the right.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Footage circulating on social media of besieged vehicles on the Dakar-Bamako corridor had been taken out of context, he insisted.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• assailed www.thesaurus.com
• attacked www.thesaurus.com
• beleaguered 
• blockaded www.thesaurus.com
• surrounded