siege
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.
any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance.
a series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group: a siege of head colds.
a prolonged period of trouble or annoyance.
Also sedge. Ornithology.
a flock of herons.
the station of a heron at prey.
the shelf or floor of a glassmaking furnace on which the glass pots are set.
Obsolete.
a seat, especially one used by a person of distinction, as a throne.
station as to rank or class.
Idioms about siege
lay siege to, to besiege: The army laid siege to the city for over a month.
Origin of siege
1synonym study For siege
Other words from siege
- siege·a·ble, adjective
- un·sieged, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use siege in a sentence
The Secret Service declined to comment on any element of Pence’s movements in the Capitol or his evacuation, other than to say that he was “secure” during the siege.
How the rioters who stormed the Capitol came dangerously close to Pence | Ashley Parker, Carol D. Leonnig, Paul Kane, Emma Brown | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostIt’s hard to think about cars at a time when our health, our city, and our country is under siege.
Instead, in a statement, he denounced the violence that unfolded during the hours-long siege, which included the fatal injuring of a Capitol Police officer and the death of a woman shot by police after she breached the complex.
The crowd outside the Capitol last week included Rep. Bob Good’s district director | Meagan Flynn | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostSmith, 40, was distributing hand-warmers to homeless people nearby when the siege started.
Upset by veterans who stormed the Capitol, these vets decided to clean up trash the mob left on the streets of D.C. | Sydney Page | January 14, 2021 | Washington PostThe lockdown room was a safe space for lawmakers under siege.
As it is, the Austrian Army is not annihilated; only bottled into Prag, and will need sieging.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XVIII. (of XXI.) | Thomas CarlyleItaly, all but some sieging of strong-places, may be considered as lost for the present.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. IX. (of XXI.) | Thomas CarlyleWell for them, that Insurrection has only pikes and axes; no right sieging tools!
The French Revolution | Thomas CarlyleWhat could such tender creatures have done at such a place as the sieging of Charlestown?
Horse-Shoe Robinson | John Pendleton Kennedy
British Dictionary definitions for siege
/ (siːdʒ) /
the offensive operations carried out to capture a fortified place by surrounding it, severing its communications and supply lines, and deploying weapons against it
(as modifier): siege warfare
a persistent attempt to gain something
a long tedious period, as of illness, etc
obsolete a seat or throne
lay siege to to besiege
(tr) to besiege or assail
Origin of siege
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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