siege
/siːdʒ
/noun
1A military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender: Verdun had withstood a siege of ten weeks [as modifier]: siege warfare...
- In the American civil war the sieges of Vicksburg and Petersburg saw trench warfare on a localized scale, and the same was true of the siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese war.
- After more than a month of siege warfare, Pemberton surrendered to Grant on 4 July 1863.
- Stalingrad, besides being the turning-point of the war on the Eastern Front, was also a reminder that an ancient form of land warfare, the siege, was by no means obsolete.
Synonyms
blockade, beleaguerment, encirclement
archaic investment
rare besiegement
1.1An operation in which a police or other force surround a building and cut off supplies, with the aim of forcing an armed person to surrender: two cult members have died so far in the four-day siege...
- A man whose life fell apart after he sparked a dramatic armed police siege with a toy weapon said today: ‘Throw away your guns.’
- I yearn for those days when everything was full of wonder and fun, when kids could play cowboys and Indians in the street with toy guns that did not cause an armed police siege.
- A man who held a woman against her will through a 12-hour armed police siege today faces a life sentence.
2 rare A group of herons: there is a siege of herons at the river...
- No one should miss the tiny island that is home to a siege of herons whose impressive wingspans are revealed when the majestic birds take flight.
- Through the sheeting rain, I picked out a siege of herons.
- A siege of long-legged herons stand patiently in shallow water waiting for fish to pass within striking range.
Phrases
lay siege to
under siege
Origin
Middle English: from Old French sege, from asegier 'besiege'.