beleaguering


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be·lea·guer

 (bĭ-lē′gər)
tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers
1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.
2. To surround with troops; besiege: The enemy beleaguered the enclave.
[Probably Dutch belegeren : be-, around (from Middle Dutch bie; see ambhi in Indo-European roots) + leger, camp; see legh- in Indo-European roots.]
be·lea′guer·ment n.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.beleaguering - the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attackbeleaguering - the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
besieging, military blockade, siege
blockade, encirclement - a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy
armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker"
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But the beleaguering prince was so incensed against them for their long resistance that he said he would spare none but the women and children--all men should be put to the sword without exception, and all their goods destroyed.
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Then, one by one, the battleships of Helium succeeded in rising above the Zodangans, and in a short time a number of the beleaguering battleships were drifting hopeless wrecks toward the high scarlet tower of greater Helium.
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The music was dying away along the street, and its dismal strains were mingled with the knell of midnight from the steeple of the Old South, and with the roar of artillery, which announced that the beleaguering army of Washington had intrenched itself upon a nearer height than before.
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