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 of besiege

• attack
• blockade
• encircle
• assault
• beleaguer

Examples of besiege in a Sentence

Customers have besieged the company with questions.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the regime, besieged by insurrections across the country, abandoned Manbij. —Anand Gopal, New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2026

The Kings, who snapped a franchise-record 16-game losing streak with Monday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies, have been besieged by injuries this season. —Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026

The operation goes awry when one of the Black Hawk helicopters is brought down and its crew, including Durant (Ron Eldard), killed or besieged. —David Faris, TheWeek, 24 Feb. 2026

Destruction in Mariupol At the start of the war, Russian forces besieged Mariupol before the port city fell in May 2022. —Yuras Karmanau, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for besiege

• siege

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