siege

[ seej ]

noun

1. the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible.
2. any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance.
3. a series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group:

   a siege of head colds.

4. a prolonged period of trouble or annoyance.
5. Also Ornithology.
   1. a flock of herons.
   2. the station of a heron at prey.
6. the shelf or floor of a glassmaking furnace on which the glass pots are set.
7. Obsolete.
   1. a seat, especially one used by a person of distinction, as a throne.
   2. station as to rank or class.

verb (used with object)

, sieged, sieg·ing.

1. to assail or assault; besiege.

siege

/ siːdʒ /

noun

1. 1. the offensive operations carried out to capture a fortified place by surrounding it, severing its communications and supply lines, and deploying weapons against it
   2. ( as modifier )

      siege warfare

2. a persistent attempt to gain something
3. a long tedious period, as of illness, etc
4. obsolete.
   a seat or throne
5. lay siege to
   to besiege

verb

1. tr to besiege or assail

Other Words From

• siegea·ble adjective
• un·sieged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of siege¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English sege, from Old French: “seat,” noun derivative of siegier, from unattested Vulgar Latin sedicāre “to set,” derivative of Latin sedēre “to sit” ( sit ¹ ); (verb) Middle English segen, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of siege¹

C13: from Old French sege a seat, from Vulgar Latin sēdicāre (unattested) to sit down, from Latin sedēre

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. lay siege to, to besiege:

   The army laid siege to the city for over a month.

Synonym Study

Siege, blockade are terms for prevention of free movement to or from a place during wartime. Siege implies surrounding a city and cutting off its communications, and usually includes direct assaults on its defenses. Blockade is applied more often to naval operations that block all commerce, especially to cut off food and other supplies from defenders.

Example Sentences

Dating apps are using images from the siege to ban rioters’ accountsThe IPO is expected in February, Bloomberg has reported.

From Washington Post

He is also the youngest founder and the one whose company is the most under siege.

From Washington Post

The siege of the Capitol came close to being far worse, and there are indications that some rioters intended to harm lawmakers.

From Washington Post

Some lawmakers are now taken aback by how Irving managed the siege.

From Washington Post

Once shepherded to the secure location, Pence remained there throughout the entire siege, even as most key congressional leaders were evacuated to an off-site secure location, according to administration and congressional aides.

From Washington Post

And even as the bloody siege continues, so, too, do signs of life.

From The Daily Beast

It has long been a battle cry in conservative circles that Christmas is under siege.

From The Daily Beast

The Kurds claimed at least 100 Islamic militants were killed in the two-day battle to lift the siege.

From The Daily Beast

As a cafe in Sydney, Australia came under siege by a hostage-taking gunman on Monday, those nearby attempted to flee the area.

From The Daily Beast

Purely by chance, Anna Coren had landed in Sydney just as the chocolate shop siege began.

From The Daily Beast

After an eight weeks' siege, a breach having been made, the city surrendered, and a month later the fort followed the example.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a conquered city, virtually if not nominally in a state of siege, without assignable period.

From Project Gutenberg

During the siege of Acre he commanded the covering force, and pushed reconnaissances far and wide.

From Project Gutenberg

To pull through such a siege, the old settlers usually did much better than the new.

From Project Gutenberg

As the siege progressed besiegers and besieged actually came to know each other by sight.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoy
• bedevil
• beset
• plague