siege

/sidʒ/

/sidʒ/

Other forms: sieges

Your city is under siege if it is surrounded on all sides by an opposing force on attack. Think of a castle surrounded by a legion of armed knights.

Like many military words, siege can be used metaphorically. If you start getting thousands of e-mail messages trying to sell you canned meat, you might feel like you're under a siege of spam selling spam. In this case, you have been besieged by spam. And even more unfortunately, if you are having a siege of bad luck, you have been besieged by bad luck.

Definitions of siege

1. noun

   the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
   synonyms: beleaguering, besieging, military blockade

   examples:

   Alamo

   a siege and massacre at a mission in San Antonio in 1836; Mexican forces under Santa Anna besieged and massacred American rebels who were fighting to make Texas independent of Mexico

   battle of Atlanta

   a siege in which Federal troops under Sherman cut off the railroads supplying the city and then burned it; 1864

   Corregidor

   the peninsula and island in the Philippines where Japanese forces besieged American forces in World War II; United States forces surrendered in 1942 and recaptured the area in 1945

   Dien Bien Phu

   the French military base fell after a siege by Vietnam troops that lasted 56 days; ended the involvement of France in Indochina in 1954

   Lucknow

   the British residents of Lucknow were besieged by Indian insurgents during the Indian Mutiny (1857)

   siege of Orleans

   a long siege of Orleans by the English was relieved by Joan of Arc in 1429

   Petersburg Campaign

   the final campaign of the American Civil War (1864-65); Union forces under Grant besieged and finally defeated Confederate forces under Lee

   Pleven

   the town was taken from the Turks by the Russians in 1877 after a siege of 143 days

   siege of Syracuse

   the Athenian siege of Syracuse (415-413 BC) was eventually won by Syracuse

   siege of Syracuse

   the Roman siege of Syracuse (214-212 BC) was eventually won by the Romans who sacked the city (killing Archimedes)

   siege of Vicksburg

   a decisive battle in the American Civil War (1863); after being besieged for nearly seven weeks the Confederates surrendered

   siege of Yorktown

   in 1781 the British under Cornwallis surrendered after a siege of three weeks by American and French troops; the surrender ended the American Revolution

   type of:

   blockade, encirclement

   a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy