# siege

/ˈsidʒ/ (US) · /sˈiːdʒ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/siege
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. military blockade

noun · CEFR B2

a military operation where an army surrounds a place to stop supplies from getting in and force a surrender.

For teachers: a military operation involving the surrounding and blockading of a fortified place to compel its surrender through attrition or assault.

- The city was under siege for three months before the food finally ran out.
- The medieval fortress withstood a brutal six-month siege, only surrendering when the internal water supply was contaminated by the attackers.

Usage: Commonly used with the prepositions 'under' or 'lay'.

### 3. to surround and attack

verb · CEFR C2 · Literary

to surround a place with an army in order to capture it.

For teachers: to subject a place or entity to a siege; more commonly expressed by the derivative 'besiege'.

- The enemy forces moved to siege the capital before winter arrived.
- The rebel commanders planned to siege the coastal garrison, hoping to cut off the loyalist escape route to the sea.

Usage: The verb form is less common than the noun; 'besiege' is the standard modern verb choice.

## Examples

- The army ended the siege after three months.
- The castle was under siege for weeks, leaving the inhabitants with very little food or clean water.
- Historians argue that the prolonged siege of the city was the decisive turning point of the war, as it exhausted the enemy's remaining strategic reserves and morale.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.