siege

plural sieges · alternative syege

1. Military action.
   1. governmentA 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.

      2 more examples

      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

      Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.

      2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World, Praeger, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145

   2. USA period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
   3. 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 Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.

      2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport

2. A seat.
   1. obsoleteA seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.

      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

      1 more example

      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 viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges

      1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V

   2. obsoleteAn ecclesiastical see.
   3. obsoleteThe place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.
   4. The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.
   5. collectiveA flock of herons.

      And whoever saw a siege of herons?

      1954 June, John Welman, Blackwoods Magazine, Blackwood Pillans and Wilson, page 484

      2 more examples

      A siege of herons feeds in the shallows.

      2000, Phil Cousineau, The Book of Roads, San Francisco, CA: Sisyphus Press, page 144

      A siege of herons blanketed the quays

      2002, Richard Matthews, The Mill Is Burning, Grove Press, page 19

   6. obsoleteA toilet seat.
   7. 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.

      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

   8. 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?

      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 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   9. obsoleteRank; 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 Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

   10. obsoleteThe floor of a glass-furnace.
3. obsoleteA place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

present singular third person sieges · participle present sieging · participle past sieged · past sieged · alternative syege

1. transitiveuncommonTo assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.

   Synonyms: besiege