Library / English Dictionary

BESIEGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Harass, as with questions or requests

Example:

The press photographers besieged the movie star

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "besiege" is one way to...):

importune; insist (beg persistently and urgently)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Surround so as to force to give up

Example:

The Turks besieged Vienna

Synonyms:

beleaguer; besiege; circumvent; hem in; surround

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "besiege" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "besiege"):

blockade; seal off (impose a blockade on)

ebb (hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

besieger (an enemy who lays siege to your position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to feel distressed or worried

Example:

She was besieged by so many problems that she got discouraged

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "besiege" is one way to...):

distress (cause mental pain to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Credits