siege
pronunciation
How to pronounce siege in British English:
UK [siːdʒ]
How to pronounce siege in American English:
US [siːdʒ]
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- Noun:
- the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
Word Origin
- siege (n.)
- early 13c., "a seat" (as in Siege Perilous, early 13c., the vacant seat at Arthur's Round Table, according to prophecy to be occupied safely only by the knight destined to find the Holy Grail), from Old French sege "seat, throne," from Vulgar Latin *sedicum "seat," from Latin sedere "sit" (see sedentary). The military sense is attested from c. 1300; the notion is of an army "sitting down" before a fortress.
Example
- 1. A fish escapes from a fish under siege .
- 2. Foreign aid-workers in kabul feel under siege .
- 3. It was only after a siege lasting several hours that some made an escape .
- 4. Launched on september 8th 1941 , the siege was the deadliest in history .
- 5. Shenzhen feels like a city under siege .