besieged

verb

past tense of besiege
1
as in blockaded
to surround (as a fortified place) with armed forces for the purpose of capturing or preventing commerce and communication armies besieged the city for six months before it finally surrendered

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2
as in plagued
to cause persistent suffering to a family besieged by worries about the faltering economy

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3
as in petitioned
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner bereaved parents continued to besiege the president with pleas to end the war

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of besieged Mehra – director of 2016 pic Baar Baar Dekho and creator of Prime Video series Big Girls Don’t Cry – says that while Indian audiences are besieged by films and TV content right now, where Hunkkaar has cut through is in its subject matter. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026 Its largest medical center, Al-Shifa Hospital, was besieged, bombed, and raided, under false pretexts, resulting in hundreds of deaths inside. — Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026 The settlers who carried out the attack in Jalud overnight are the same group who besieged the home of a Palestinian-American in the neighboring village of Qusra last month, local residents say. — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026 There has been a spate of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, and the village of Qusra has been besieged by Israeli settlers for weeks. — F. Brinley Bruton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026 One of them, Muammar Ibrahim, reported for Al Jazeera’s Arabic network while the city was besieged. — Mat Nashed, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026 Indiana, besieged by injuries after reaching the 2025 NBA Finals, was 1-12 when Mathurin returned. — William Guillory, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Saunders is one of the most senior Australian Catholics to be convicted in a global clergy abuse scandal that has besieged the Vatican for years. — ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026 The Pratts are in serious crisis, besieged by bullies and bad neighbors outside of their house and foundation-crumbling dysfunction inside it. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for besieged
  1. blockaded
  2. plagued
  3. petitioned
  4. attacked
  5. afflicted
  6. begged
  7. beleaguered
  8. persecuted
Verb
  • In the south, farmers and truckers have blockaded ports and highways in protest of those same high fuel costs.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Protesters have broken into schools and, in some cases, set fire to occupied or blockaded buildings.
    — Nicholas Bequelin, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of blockaded
Verb
  • But he was plagued by guilt over his ancestor’s role in the trials, and felt compelled to explore themes of human character, greed, and social decay through his work.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Joan realizes that her mother’s vanishing meshes with a larger tapestry of tragedy that has plagued their family over the years.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of plagued
Verb
  • Rejection by appeals court Saying that Carter was not moving fast enough, the Justice Department last weekend petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear their request before Tuesday’s hearing in his Los Angeles court.
    — Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • That, however, never happened and an attorney eventually petitioned for his release.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of petitioned
Verb
  • The men were returning to camp when their white armored Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked by members of the two Haitian gangs.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • After Israel accepted its meager portion, Arabs attacked and retained a significant part of the land that was to be divided between Jews and Arabs.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacked
Verb
  • Love contains the seeds of its own destruction—the cruelty and self-absorption that turns the afflicted against one another, and themselves.
    — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
  • While the epicenter was located in Nantou County in central Taiwan, serious damage afflicted residents across the island as roads buckled, bridges collapsed and landslides destroyed everything in their path.
    — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of afflicted
Verb
  • Another concerned resident, Richard Dean, provided emails in which he all but begged the city to do something about the animal.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Theo was not rich, and Vincent constantly complained about being broke, with not even enough money for food, and often practically begged his brother for more money.
    — Joan Martelli, Time, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of begged
Verb
  • Sirianni said Monday that beleaguered offensive coordinator Sean Mannion was still the play-caller.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Ed Sheeran‘s beleaguered Gillette Stadium concerts tonight and Saturday have been canceled due to the nor’easter threatening New England with severe weather.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of beleaguered
Verb
  • Those governments provide assurances that people won’t be persecuted or tortured, federal attorneys said.
    — Lindsay Whitehurst, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Also, some immigration cases involve people seeking asylum because they are being persecuted by a foreign government and releasing a person’s full name could be considered sensitive or even dangerous.
    — Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of persecuted

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Cite this Entry

“Besieged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besieged. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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