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

In spring 2013, as the suffering and despair spread, al-Abbasi and her husband made a small but generous donation to a family from a city besieged by the government. —Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, 13 Dec. 2024

The hero is a guy named Kash who valiantly rises to the defense of King Donald, who’s being besieged by Hillary Queenton. —Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 12 Dec. 2024

Since then, Putin has sought instead to rally the public to the defense of a motherland besieged by the perfidious and cunning West. —Leon Aron, The Atlantic, 5 Dec. 2024

Tragically, Kalief Browder, besieged by trauma and depression, took his own life in 2015. —Jelani Cobb, Rolling Stone, 4 Dec. 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