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siege

noun

  1. military blockade of a city or fortress
  2. to surround or harass (as with questions or requests)
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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /siːd͡ʒ/ / [sɪi̯d͡ʒ]

noun

Etymology: From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).

  1. Military action.

    “The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.”

    “Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.”

  2. Military action.
  3. Military action.

    “But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.”

  4. A seat.

    “Now Merlyn said kyng Arthur / goo thow and aspye me in al this land l knyghtes whiche ben of most prowesse & worship / within short tyme merlyn had founde suche knyȝtes[…]Thenne the Bisshop of Caunterbury was fette and he blessid the syeges with grete Royalte and deuoycyon / and there sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges”

    “To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay[…].”

  5. A seat.
  6. A seat.
  7. A seat.
  8. A seat.
  9. A seat.
  10. A seat.

    “Another ground were certain holes or cavities observable about the siege; which being perceived in males, made some conceive there might be also a feminine nature in them.”

  11. A seat.

    “Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?”

  12. A seat.

    “I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.”

  13. A seat.
  14. A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).

  1. To assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.