besiege

verb

be·​siege bi-ˈsēj 

bē-

besieged; besieging

transitive verb

1

military : to surround with armed forces

The army had besieged the castle.

2

a

: to press with requests : importune

… besieging the royal ministers with petitions …

—T. B. Costain

besieged by the media

b

: to cause worry or distress to : beset

doubts besieged him

besieger noun

Synonyms

• beleaguer
• blockade
• invest
• leaguer [archaic]

Examples of besiege in a Sentence

Customers have besieged the company with questions.

Recent Examples on the Web

Will younger generations be interested in working in firms who have leaders with questionable morals or fields besieged by negativity and incivility? —Joyce E. A. Russell, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024

Advertisement Climate & Environment Southern California is suddenly besieged by fire. —Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2024

That town has now been besieged by multiple incursions of lava. —Robin George Andrews, The Atlantic, 26 Sep. 2024

In this version, an orc army led by Adar (Sam Hazeldine) is besieging the elf kingdom of Eregion, led by the great smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards). —Christian Holub, EW.com, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

besiege

verb

be·​siege bi-ˈsēj 

besieged; besieging

1

: to surround with armed forces for the purpose of capturing

2

: to trouble with requests

3

: to cause worry or distress to

doubts besieged him

besieger noun