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siege - 5 dictionary results
siege
[seej] 
noun, verb, sieged, sieg⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible. |
| 2. | any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance. |
| 3. | a series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group: a siege of head colds. |
| 4. | a prolonged period of trouble or annoyance. |
| 5. | Also, sedge. Ornithology.
|
| 6. | the shelf or floor of a glassmaking furnace on which the glass pots are set. |
| 7. | Obsolete.
|
–verb (used with object)
—Idiom| 8. | to assail or assault; besiege. |
| 9. | lay siege to, to besiege: The army laid siege to the city for over a month. |
Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME sege < OF: seat, n. deriv. of siegier < VL *sedicāre to set, deriv. of L sedēre to sit 1 ; (v.) ME segen, deriv. of the n.
1175–1225; (n.) ME sege < OF: seat, n. deriv. of siegier < VL *sedicāre to set, deriv. of L sedēre to sit 1 ; (v.) ME segen, deriv. of the n.
Related forms:
siege⋅a⋅ble, adjective
Synonyms:
1. Siege, blockade are terms for prevention of free movement to or from a place during wartime. Siege implies surrounding a city and cutting off its communications, and usually includes direct assaults on its defenses. Blockade is applied more often to naval operations that block all commerce, especially to cut off food and other supplies from defenders.
1. Siege, blockade are terms for prevention of free movement to or from a place during wartime. Siege implies surrounding a city and cutting off its communications, and usually includes direct assaults on its defenses. Blockade is applied more often to naval operations that block all commerce, especially to cut off food and other supplies from defenders.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To siege
| siege (sēj) n.
To subject to a siege; besiege. See Synonyms at besiege. [Middle English sege, from Old French, seat, from Vulgar Latin *sedicum, from *sedicāre, to sit, from Latin sedēre; see sed- in Indo-European roots.] |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Siege
Siege\, n. [OE. sege, OF. siege, F. si[`e]ge a seat, a siege; cf. It. seggia, seggio, zedio, a seat, asseggio, assedio, a siege, F. assi['e]ger to besiege, It. & LL. assediare, L. obsidium a siege, besieging; all ultimately fr. L. sedere to sit. See Sit, and cf. See, n.]1. A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne. [Obs.] "Upon the very siege of justice." --Shak. A stately siege of sovereign majesty, And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay. --Spenser. In our great hall there stood a vacant chair . . . And Merlin called it "The siege perilous." --Tennyson. 2. Hence, place or situation; seat. [Obs.] Ah! traitorous eyes, come out of your shameless siege forever. --Painter (Palace of Pleasure). 3. Rank; grade; station; estimation. [Obs.] I fetch my life and being From men of royal siege. --Shak. 4. Passage of excrements; stool; fecal matter. [Obs.] The siege of this mooncalf. --Shak. 5. The sitting of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling the garrison to surrender; the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy's fire. See the Note under Blockade. 6. Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession. Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast. --Dryden. 7. The floor of a glass-furnace. 8. A workman's bench. --Knught. Siege gun, a heavy gun for siege operations. Siege train, artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.Siege
Siege\, v. t. To besiege; to beset. [R.] Through all the dangers that can siege The life of man. --Buron.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : siege
Spanish:
cerco, sitio,
German:
die Belagerung,
Japanese:
包囲攻撃
siege
c.1225, "a seat" (as in Siege Perilous, the vacant seat at Arthur's Round Table, to be occupied safely only by the knight destined to find the Holy Grail, c.1230), from O.Fr. sege "seat, throne," from V.L. *sedicum "seat," from L. sedere "sit" (see sedentary). The military sense is attested from c.1300; the notion is of an army "sitting down" before a fortress.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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