What does “besiege” mean?
- 1
verbto surround a place with an army to force it to surrender
The army besieged the city for months.
- 2
verbto surround or overwhelm someone with requests, questions or people
The star was besieged by fans.
Besiege at a glance
- Part of speech
- verb
- CEFR level
- C2 (proficient)
- Pronunciation
- /bɪˈsidʒ/ · bih-SEEJ
How to use “besiege” correctly
The figurative sense is common in the passive: “besieged with calls/questions”.
Common phrases with “besiege”
- besieged by
- besieged with requests
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
“besiege” is on these word lists
Learn these words next
- accede verbC2to agree to a request or demand, often after first refusing
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- arbitrate verbC2to officially judge a disagreement between two sides as a neutral person
- capitulate verbC2to stop resisting and accept the demands of an opponent
- cede verbC2to give up land, power or rights to someone else, usually unwillingly
- consecrate verbC2to officially make a place or object holy in a religious ceremony
- depose verbC2to remove a ruler or leader from power, often by force
- deprave verbC2to make someone morally bad or evil