besieged

past tense of besiege
1
as in blockaded
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of besieged The second was navigating a WNBA game with a lineup besieged by injury. James Boyd, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2026 An American’s home is among those besieged by Israeli settlers. Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 14 Aug. 2026 Saunders is one of the most senior Australian Catholics to be convicted in a global clergy abuse scandal that has besieged the Vatican for years. ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026 The Pratts are in serious crisis, besieged by bullies and bad neighbors outside of their house and foundation-crumbling dysfunction inside it. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2026 And yet, besieged by the same afflictions of greed, self-interest and a comical inability to work together, horse racing is doing its damndest to similarly mess up its very good thing. Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026 The staff means business, with the host stand besieged by walk-ins, take-out orders, and impatient guests waiting outside. Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026 His entries have always been besieged by cameos from popular characters such as Iron Man, Nick Fury, or, as in No Way Home, the Spider-Men that preceded Holland’s take. David Sims, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026 As a result, the federal court in South Florida has been besieged with habeas petitions. Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for besieged
Verb
  • Iran’s proxies in the region, the Houthis, have since blockaded another strait – the Bab-al-Mandeb – challenging Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil through that alternate route.
    David Goldman, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026
  • During the early nineteen-eighties, when Paul Volcker, the chair of the Federal Reserve, raised interest rates to twenty per cent in the face of rampant inflation, furious farmers blockaded the Fed’s headquarters with their tractors.
    John Cassidy, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Committee delays The county formed a committee, the Advisory Meeting on Public School Capacity, that was supposed to figure out how to fix the problem, but it's been plagued by delays filling its seats and only met for the first time last month.
    Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • His stint with the Bills was plagued by injuries and a Dallas domestic violence case that led to a four-game suspension.
    ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Hickerson petitioned the court to reduce his felony domestic violence convictions to misdemeanors and to expunge the case from his record.
    Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Madigan has since petitioned the Supreme Court to hear his case, a request that is pending.
    Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Evidence publicly presented in the Clancy case indicates Lindsay was the only adult at the family home when investigators believe the children were attacked.
    Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The Defense Ministry in Bucharest said that so far this year, Russia had attacked targets close to Romania's frontier 54 times, representing a significant increase on the 28 attacks close to the border in all of 2025.
    David Brennan, ABC News, 21 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Those afflicted would tremble and jerk around, lose the ability to stand or swallow, and, after many months of slow suffering, die.
    David Remnick, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Repeat this process once the soil has dried again, until affected plants are no longer afflicted with pests.
    Abby Monteil, The Spruce, 1 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • In 2020, it was set to be bulldozed, until Mowery begged to give her three months.
    Lee Cowan, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Still, Harbaugh was encouraged that at the end of Thursday’s marathon practice, his players actually begged him for one extra play in the red zone.
    Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The department has been further beleaguered by concerns that leaders manipulated crime statistics to boost its image.
    Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Local government officials have played a key role in orchestrating the competition’s spread, eying the boost for businesses in a domestic economy beleaguered by weak consumption.
    Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 July 2026
Verb
  • Many Marranos persecuted by the Inquisition did secretly maintain a Jewish identity.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Since mutants are often feared and persecuted, Professor Charles Xavier, one of the most powerful telepaths in the comics canon, opens a School for Gifted Youngsters as a safe haven for young wayward mutants.
    Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Besieged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besieged. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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