beleaguer
verb
- harass
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɪˈliː.ɡə/ / /bəˈliː.ɡə/ / /bɪˈli.ɡɚ/
verb
Etymology: Borrowed from Dutch belegeren and/or Middle Low German belēgeren; equivalent to be- + lair. Compare also German belagern, Danish belejre. The English spelling was perhaps influenced by unrelated league.
- To besiege; to surround with troops.
“I have read in some old marvellous tale, / Some legend strange and vague, / That a midnight host of spectres pale / Beleaguered the walls of Prague. // Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, / With the wan moon overhead, / There stood, as in an awful dream, / The army of the dead.”
- To vex, harass, or beset.
- To exhaust.