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Which ancient city endured a siege in Homer's Iliad?

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siege

American  

[seej] / sidʒ /

noun

sieges plural

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. Ornithology. Also

   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.

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verb (used with object)

sieged, sieging

1. to assail or assault; besiege.

idioms

1. lay siege to, to besiege.

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

siege British  

/ 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. to besiege

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verb

1. (tr) to besiege or assail

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• siegeable
  adjective
• unsieged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sieges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of siege

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” ( see sit ¹); (verb) Middle English segen, derivative of the noun

Explanation

Your city is under siege if it is surrounded on all sides by an opposing force on attack. Think of a castle surrounded by a legion of armed knights. Like many military words, siege can be used metaphorically. If you start getting thousands of e-mail messages trying to sell you canned meat, you might feel like you're under a siege of spam selling spam. In this case, you have been besieged by spam. And even more unfortunately, if you are having a siege of bad luck, you have been besieged by bad luck.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

siege sieges sieged sieging

That landmark picture features McElwee, then in his mid-30s, as he tries to chronicle the exploits of Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who laid siege to the South during the Civil War.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

As a medical student, Hamawy had gone to Bosnia, flying into Sarajevo on a white U.N. plane while the city was under siege.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

With 11 men against Switzerland’s 10, Argentina ratcheted up the pressure in extra time, a siege the Swiss couldn’t escape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

The siege of Gaza "directly undermined reproductive and newborn health", while the collapse of public health programmes "eroded the conditions necessary for a healthy next generation".

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

The Osage had been assured by the U.S. government that their Kansas territory would remain their home forever, but before long they were under siege from settlers.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Similar sieges unfolded across Syria—in Duma, Zabadani, and beyond.

From Slate ● Nov. 19, 2025

This frequently happens in sieges, such as Germany's encirclement of Leningrad during World War II.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2024

The tactics to enforce the sieges have also limited residents’ access to health and education, forcing one in 12 people across the country to flee their homes, the organization said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

The UN human rights chief has said sieges are illegal under international law.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2023

You could calculate exactly how many power cells were needed, and sieges could be extended for up to eight hours.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

And at a subsequent screening he met several audience members who said they were from Mariupol and that their relatives were escaping the sieged city at the same time he was.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2023

On February 28, 1993, law enforcement sieged Mount Carmel Center ranch, the compound that belonged to Koresh and his religious cult.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2023

“There is quite a lot of people still remaining in the absolutely sieged city of Mariupol in some inhumane conditions,” he said during a video briefing.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2022

Over these past weekends, many of my friends have attended medical first aid courses, survival courses on how to survive in an occupied or sieged city.

From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2022

If Atla-Hi had been able to do anything more for us—that is, if they hadn't been sieged in, I mean—they'd sure as anything have pulled us in.

From The Night of the Long Knives by Finlay, Virgil

It has also levied some sanctions on those doing the sieging.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 24, 2022

The War, since Friedrich got out of it, does not abate in animosity, nor want for bloodshed, battle and sieging; but offers little now memorable.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 16 by Carlyle, Thomas

As it is, the Austrian Army is not annihilated; only bottled into Prag, and will need sieging.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 18 by Carlyle, Thomas

He knew that before him lay the culminating battle of his long and ardent sieging of Fortune's stronghold.

From The Trail of the Axe A Story of Red Sand Valley by Cullum, Ridgwell

His worst war was with Pommern,—just claims disputed there, and much confused bickering, sieging and harassing in consequence: of which quarrel we must speak anon.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 03 by Carlyle, Thomas

Related Words

• barricade
• closure
• encirclement
• restriction
• roadblock
• stoppage