siege
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a military operation where an army surrounds a place to stop supplies from getting in and force a surrender.
n.a military operation involving the surrounding and blockading of a fortified place to compel its surrender through attrition or assault.
Simple“The city was under siege for three months before the food finally ran out.”
In context“The medieval fortress withstood a brutal six-month siege, only surrendering when the internal water supply was contaminated by the attackers.”
UsageCommonly used with the prepositions 'under' or 'lay'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
v.to surround a place with an army in order to capture it.
v.to subject a place or entity to a siege; more commonly expressed by the derivative 'besiege'.
Simple“The enemy forces moved to siege the capital before winter arrived.”
In context“The rebel commanders planned to siege the coastal garrison, hoping to cut off the loyalist escape route to the sea.”
UsageThe verb form is less common than the noun; 'besiege' is the standard modern verb choice.
“As the siege wore on, Edward I set his engineers and carpenters to work on the largest trebuchet anyone in the world had ever seen.”
“In 1775, American ground forces laid siege to the British Army in Boston.”
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.