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beset - 4 dictionary results

be⋅set

  [bi-set]
Use beset in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -set, -set⋅ting.
1. to attack on all sides; assail; harass: to be beset by enemies; beset by difficulties.
2. to surround; hem in: a village beset on all sides by dense forest.
3. to set or place upon; bestud: a gold bracelet beset with jewels.
4. Nautical. to surround (a vessel) by ice, so that control of the helm is lost.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME besetten, OE besettan. See be-, set

Related forms:
be⋅set⋅ment, noun
be⋅set⋅ter, noun

Synonyms:
2. encircle, enclose, besiege, beleaguer. 3. stud, decorate, ornament.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To beset
be·set   (bĭ-sět')   
tr.v.   be·set, be·set·ting, be·sets
  1. To attack from all sides.
  2. To trouble persistently; harass. See Synonyms at attack.
  3. To hem in; surround: "the mountains which beset it round" (Nathaniel Hawthorne).
  4. To stud, as with jewels.

[Middle English bisetten, from Old English besettan; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]
be·set'ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Beset

Be*set"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beset; p. pr. & vb. n. Besetting.] [AS. besettan (akin to OHG. bisazjan, G. besetzen, D. bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set.]

1. To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects.

A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. --Spectator.

The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. --Evelyn.

2. To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. "Beset with foes." --Milton.

Let thy troops beset our gates. --Addison.

3. To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc. "Adam, sore beset, replied." --Milton. "Beset with ills." --Addison. "Incommodities which beset old age." --Burke.

4. To occupy; to employ; to use up. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Syn: To surround; inclose; environ; hem in; besiege; encircle; encompass; embarrass; urge; press.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : beset
Spanish: cercar, asediar,
German: umgeben,
Japanese: 包囲する
More Translations »

beset 
O.E. besettan, "to surround," from P.Gmc. *bisatjan (cf. O.S. bisettjan, Ger. besetzen, Goth. bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The fig. sense also was in O.E.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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