1
as in to attack
to surround (as a fortified place) with armed forces for the purpose of capturing or preventing commerce and communication
armies besieged the city for six months before it finally surrendered
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
a family besieged by worries about the faltering economy
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3
as in to beg
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner
bereaved parents continued to besiege the president with pleas to end the war
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Recent Examples of besiege
If your flower beds were besieged with pests or fungal diseases, the fallen leaf litter and stems from those plants should not be left in the garden.
—
Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
Ruling an isolated, ruined, and besieged Gaza Strip will not get Hamas closer to this objective—but building up a strong political presence in the West Bank could, and accepting the latest proposal could free Hamas to do this.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
Israel tried to take over Gaza City before in this war, besieging it and launching raids in its streets, but tens of thousands of people remained.
—Aya Batrawy, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025
Landslide in western Sudan kills at least 1,000 A landslide in western Sudan killed at least 1,000 people, intensifying hardship in a country besieged by years of civil war.
—Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for besiege
Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2025
Ruling an isolated, ruined, and besieged Gaza Strip will not get Hamas closer to this objective—but building up a strong political presence in the West Bank could, and accepting the latest proposal could free Hamas to do this.
—Hussein Ibish, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
Israel tried to take over Gaza City before in this war, besieging it and launching raids in its streets, but tens of thousands of people remained.
—Aya Batrawy, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025
Landslide in western Sudan kills at least 1,000 A landslide in western Sudan killed at least 1,000 people, intensifying hardship in a country besieged by years of civil war.
—Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for besiege
Recent Examples of Synonyms for besiege
Verb
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Vinicius Jr also thrived in the Italian’s counter-attacking tactical setup, which was designed at least in part to suit his pace and direct running, and delivered the club’s two most recent Champions League trophies in 2022 and 2024.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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The only thing that carries any water is making up something to attack Gretchen.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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However, Paramount is grappling with the same issues that are plaguing other media giants.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
27 Oct. 2025
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Injuries plagued Los Angeles all season.—
Shaun McAvoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This snappy set is begging to be paired with your fave sunglasses to create a mysteriously cool look this fall.—
Caroline Hughes,
Travel + Leisure,
31 Oct. 2025
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Nessarose, who uses a wheelchair, is seen levitating after begging Elphaba to wield her magical powers to give her the ability to walk.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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To test if this really was a White House operation, Grace and I followed one of the trucks out of the golf course, past the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, to a path that normally leads to the White House but was blockaded.—
Nancy Walecki,
The Atlantic,
25 Oct. 2025
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Britain was France’s most persistent opponent and was determined to control the seas, especially in the face of Napoleon’s efforts to blockade the country.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For now, Poulsen is much more worried about how the nation’s poultry and dairy agriculture systems will withstand the virus continuing to afflict the animals these industries rely on.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
24 Oct. 2025
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Even though this can afflict regular sandwiches as well, my Picklewiches definitely suffered from it more.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ahead of that vote, Marsh had petitioned the Executive Board to support his appeal to the ZBA.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
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Karen Scham — the resident who originally petitioned to remove the books — was also in attendance, urging Lewin-Lane’s dismissal.—
Adrienne Davis,
jsonline.com,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There is a lot of red—99 naval and coast guard vessels, to be precise, completely encircling Taiwan during PLA exercises last December.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
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In the same month the Germans encircled Leningrad and began the siege of the city.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Create Abundance's lawyer in Canada, Brian Vickers, said that the two companies Li directed were not connected to the group and that it was being wrongfully persecuted.—
Didi Kirsten Tatlow,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Besiege.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besiege. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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