|
Siege - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
|
Siege : (noun)
1: the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified
place and isolates it while continuing to attack [syn: besieging,
beleaguering, military blockade]
Based on WordNet 2.0
|
|
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 Based on 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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
|
|
Siege : \Siege\, v. t.
To besiege; to beset. [R.]
Through all the dangers that can siege The life of man.
--Buron.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|
|
|
|
|
