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

Early on, the Biden team had been besieged with desperate pleas to ship more of the then scarce vaccine. —David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026

When news circulated about the gathering, Temple Emanu-El was besieged with inquiries from the local media. —Joshua M. Davidson, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026

The interview takes a bad turn when the Ralph Lauren office building is besieged by the tabloid mob. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026

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