be·siege

(bĭ-sēj′)

tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es

1. To surround with hostile forces: The soldiers besieged the walled city.

2. To crowd around; hem in: Fans besieged the star as she came out of the hotel.

3. To harass or overwhelm, as with requests: a shop owner besieged by job applications.

[Middle English besegen, probably alteration of assegen, from Old French assegier, from Vulgar Latin *assedicāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Vulgar Latin *sedicāre, to sit; see siege.]

be·siege′ment n.

be·sieg′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	besieger - an enemy who lays siege to your position foe, foeman, enemy, opposition - an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force); "a soldier must be prepared to kill his enemies"
	2.	besieger - an energetic petitioner petitioner, requester, suppliant, supplicant - one praying humbly for something; "a suppliant for her favors"

Translations

assediante

besieger

[bɪˈsiːdʒəʳ] N → sitiador(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

besieger

n (Mil) → Belagerer m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

besieger

[bɪˈsiːdʒəʳ] n → assediante m/f

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Jurgis became once more a besieger of factory gates.

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In the middle of the afternoon we sighted the scarlet and yellow towers of Helium, and a short time later a great fleet of Zodangan battleships rose from the camps of the besiegers without the city, and advanced to meet us.

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Then Carthoris, keeping within the shelter of the trees that fringed the plain, began circling the rear of the besiegers' line, hoping against hope that somewhere he would obtain sight of Thuvia of Ptarth, for even now he could not believe that she was dead.

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The besiegers, furious at the trick, rushed forward to slaughter the men, but the Duke stepped between and said:

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All round this they had cleared a wide space, and then the thing was completed by a paling six feet high, without door or opening, too strong to pull down without time and labour and too open to shelter the besiegers. The people in the log-house had them in every way; they stood quiet in shelter and shot the others like partridges.

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There are two rivers which run through the meadows, and between them lie the tents of the besiegers."

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Pickwick a few seconds before, were drawn up to repel the mimic attack of the sham besiegers of the citadel; and the consequence was that Mr.

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D'Artagnan, to put an end to the affair, and to silence the fire, which was unceasing, sent a fresh column, which penetrated like a very wedge; and he soon perceived upon the ramparts, through the fire, the terrified flight of the besieged, pursued by the besiegers.

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The besiegers being now in complete possession of the house, spread themselves over it from garret to cellar, and plied their demon labours fiercely.

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Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient angle of the fort, and the other on the advanced battery of the besiegers; emblems of the truth which existed, not only to the acts, but it would seem, also, to the enmity of the combatants.

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The besiegers, appalled by their own riot and the stillness that had succeeded, stood back a little and peered in.

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Meanwhile the besiegers, when they heard much noise among the cattle as they sat in council, sprang to their horses, and made with all speed towards them; when they reached them they set battle in array by the banks of the river, and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another.

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