be setting

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adjective

constantly assailing or obsessing, as with temptation: a besetting sin.

Origin:
1540–50; beset + -ing²

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), be·set, be·set·ting.

to attack on all sides; assail; harass: to be beset by enemies; beset by difficulties.

to surround; hem in: a village beset on all sides by dense forest.

to set or place upon; bestud: a gold bracelet beset with jewels.

Nautical. to surround (a vessel) by ice, so that control of the helm is lost.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English besetten, Old English besettan. See be-, set

Related forms

be·set·ment, noun

be·set·ter, noun

pre·be·set, verb (used with object), pre·be·set, pre·be·set·ting.

un·be·set, adjective

Synonyms
2. encircle, enclose, besiege, beleaguer. 3. stud, decorate, ornament.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To be setting

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Be setting is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

beset (bɪˈsɛt)

—vb , -sets, -setting, -set
1.	(esp of dangers, temptations, or difficulties) to trouble or harass constantly
2.	to surround or attack from all sides
3.	archaic to cover with, esp with jewels

be'setter

—n

besetting (bɪˈsɛtɪŋ)

—*adj*
	tempting, harassing, or assailing (esp in the phrase besetting sin)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

beset

O.E. besettan "to put, place; own, keep; cover, surround with, besiege," from P.Gmc. *bisatjan (cf. O.S. bisettjan, Ger. besetzen, Goth. bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The figurative sense also was in O.E.

Matching Quote

"The doctrine of those who have denied that certainty could be attained at all, has some agreement with my way of proceeding at the first setting out; but they end in being infinitely separated and opposed. For the holders of that doctrine assert simply that nothing can be known; I also assert that not much can be known in nature by the way which is now in use. But then they go on to destroy the authority of the senses and understanding; whereas I proceed to devise helps for the same."

-Francis Bacon

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