/siːd͡ʒ/, /sid͡ʒ/
OriginFrom 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”).
- A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
“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.”
“Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.”
- USA period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
- figurativelyA 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 Ukrain”
- obsoleteA 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 Caunter”
“To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay[…].”
- obsoleteAn ecclesiastical see.
- obsoleteThe 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.
- obsoleteA toilet seat.
- obsoleteThe 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.”
- obsoleteExcrements, stool, fecal matter.
“Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?”
- obsoleteRank; grade; station; estimation.
“I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.”
- obsoleteThe floor of a glass-furnace.
- obsoleteA place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
- transitive, uncommonTo assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.
Formssieges(plural) · syege(alternative) · sieges(present, singular, third-person) · sieging(participle, present) · sieged(participle, past) · sieged(past)