beleaguer

/bɪˈliɡər/

Other forms: beleaguered; beleaguering; beleaguers

Beleaguer means to pester or badger with persistence. A babysitter might find annoying the children who beleaguer her with requests for candy, cookies, games, and piggyback rides all at the same time.

Beleaguer originally meant to lay siege to, and originates from a 16th century Dutch term which meant to camp all around. It was not until later that beleaguer came to mean harass or bother in a determined way. Remember that there is a league in the middle of be-league-r and the spelling will be easy.

Definitions of beleaguer

1. verb

   annoy persistently
   synonyms: badger, bug, pester, tease

   type of:

   bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate, rag, torment

   treat cruelly
2. verb

   surround so as to force to give up
   synonyms: besiege, circumvent, hem in, surround

   types:

   blockade, seal off

   impose a blockade on

   ebb

   hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb

   type of:

   assail, attack

   launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with