besiegement


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be·siege

 (bĭ-sēj′)
tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es
1. To surround with hostile forces: The soldiers besieged the walled city.
2. To crowd around; hem in: Fans besieged the star as she came out of the hotel.
3. To harass or overwhelm, as with requests: a shop owner besieged by job applications.

[Middle English besegen, probably alteration of assegen, from Old French assegier, from Vulgar Latin *assedicāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Vulgar Latin *sedicāre, to sit; see siege.]

be·siege′ment n.
be·sieg′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

besiegement

(bɪˈsiːdʒmənt)
n
1. the state of being besieged
2. the act of besieging
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

besiegement

noun
A prolonged surrounding of an objective by hostile troops:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Israel wants Palestinians to accept their perpetual besiegement, embrace their fate as an occupied nation with no rights, subject to the whims of Israel and its racist, deadly policies.
Summary: Tel Aviv wants Palestinians to accept their perpetual besiegement
No proof has been given of the supposed besiegement, a claim belied by independent satellite videos of Recto that night of June 9.
In its pure form, it entails the besiegement of the armed enemy.
While these political battles are being fiercely fought, we march alongside the British Army in its desperate retreat down through France and its besiegement at Dunkirk.
This year's drills will focus on counter-terrorism and humanitarian relief, with field exercises covered by the militaries including surveillance, investigation, besiegement, invasion, the liberation of hostages and the destruction of terrorists.
"Likewise, my offering accommodation to these Muslim 'migrants' and to encourage their besiegement of our country and the unwarranted plundering of its resources is ridiculous.
Politicians and NGOs are building pressure to end international support for the besiegement of Yemen, warning of an impending famine, but the real crisis is already here, and tens of thousands of people have been dying.
Yet a false narrative of besiegement, perpetuated by the far right, is motivating a reactionary tendency to weaponise religious sentiment and stoking a paranoia that, if history is any guide, cannot be satiated by appeasement.
Ala said that the committee's report on Eastern Ghouta promotes prefabricated accusations such as claims of besiegement, starvation, and intentional targeting of civilians and facilities, and it relies on illegal inferences with terms such as "likely" and "probably" to build deductions and accusation, in addition to relying on suspect testimonies from sources like the terrorist "White Helmets" organization, which was awarded USD 6.6 million for its role in fabricating and spreading videos about alleged chemical weapons use.
Mohamed Abdi Adar, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Syria said: "These refugees had already suffered untold hardship because of years of besiegement and hostilities and then late April, intensified fighting in Yarmouk further destroyed many homes, displacing thousands.