siege
/siːd͡ʒ/
siege noun: a prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
Noun
siege (plural sieges)
- A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
- They sued for peace after the long siege.
- The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 5
- A period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
- A prolonged assault or attack.
- But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport
- A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.
- Now Merlyn said kyng Arthur / goo thow and aspye me in al this land l knyghtes whiche ben of most prowesse & worship / within short tyme merlyn had founde suche knyȝtes[…]Thenne the Bisshop of Caunterbury was fette and he blessid the syeges with grete Royalte and deuoycyon / and there sette the...1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V
- To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay[…].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- An ecclesiastical see.
- The place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.
- The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.
- A flock of herons.
- A siege of herons feeds in the shallows.2000, Phil Cousineau, The Book of Roads, San Francisco, CA: Sisyphus Press, page 144
- And whoever saw a siege of herons?1954 June, John Welman, Blackwoods Magazine, Blackwood Pillans and Wilson, page 484
- A toilet seat.
- The anus; the rectum.
- Another ground were certain holes or cavities observable about the siege; which being perceived in males, made some conceive there might be also a feminine nature in them.1650, Thomas Browne, chapter III, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 17
- Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
- Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- Rank; grade; station; estimation.
- I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- The floor of a glass-furnace.
- A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
Verb
siege (third-person singular simple present sieges, present participle sieging, simple past and past participle sieged)
siege meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
siege in Hindi
- military blockade of settlement
- घेरा gherā, घेराबंदी gherābandī
siege in Tamil
- முற்றுகை, நெடுநாட்கள் நீடிக்கும் நோய், அரியணை அல்லது தலைமைப் பொறுப்பு, முற்றுகையிடு
siege in Marathi
- घेराबंदी
siege in Urdu
- military blockade of settlement
- محاصرہ muhāsara, گھِیرا gherā
More languagesFewer languages
- siege in Bengali
- অবরোধ, ঘেরাও
- siege in Telugu
- ముట్టడి muṭṭaḍi
- siege in Malayalam
- വളഞ്ഞ് ആക്രമിക്കൽ, അവരോധം, ഉപരോധം
- siege in Kannada
- ಮುತ್ತಿಗೆ
- siege in Punjabi
- ਮੁਹਾਸਰਾ muhāsrā
- siege in Gujarati
- ઘેરાબંધી
- siege in Odia
- ଘେରାବନ୍ଦୀ
- siege in Nepali
- घेराबन्दी, घेराबंदी
- siege in Pashto
- محاصره mahāsera
- siege in Arabic
- حِصَار ḥiṣār, مُحَاصَرَة muḥāṣara
- siege in Malay
- pengepungan
- siege in Indonesian
- pengepungan
- siege in Persian
- محاصره mohâsere
- siege in Thai
- การล้อม gaan-lɔ́ɔm
- siege in Vietnamese
- sự bao vây, sự phong tỏa
Examples of siege in a sentence
- The political situation was so critical that the government declared the state of siege.
- Smallpox was rife after the siege had been lifted.
- They’re laying siege to all we hold dear.
Synonyms of siege
Forms of siege
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sieges |
| alternative form | syege |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sieges |
| present participle | sieging |
| past participle | sieged |
| past | sieged |
Origin of siege
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”). The military sense of the term is derived from the notion of an army "sitting down" in front of its target.
Words formed from siege
Phrases with siege
Words that rhyme with siege
Questions about siege
- What does siege mean?
- Siege means a prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
- What is siege in Hindi?
- Siege in Hindi is घेरा (gherā), घेराबंदी (gherābandī). See Siege meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is siege?
- Siege can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce siege?
- Siege is pronounced /siːd͡ʒ/.
- What is the plural of siege?
- The plural of siege is sieges.
Words near siege in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: siege (page history and authors); siege (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); siege (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); siege (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ముట్టడి (Telugu) (page history and authors); siege (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); siege (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਮੁਹਾਸਰਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); siege (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); siege (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); siege (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-siege.ogg.
Cite this entry: “siege.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/siege. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.