Definition of "siege"

(heading) Military action.

1. (military) A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.  quotations

   Quotations

   • The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.

     1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], page 5

   • Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.

     2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World‎, Praeger, page 145

2. (US) A period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.  examples

3. (figuratively) A prolonged assault or attack.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.

     2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport

(heading) A seat.

1. (obsolete) A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Now Merlyn said kyng Arthur / goo thow and aspye me in al this land l knyghtes whiche ben of most prowesse & worship / within short tyme merlyn had founde suche knyȝtes […] Thenne the Bisshop of Caunterbury was fette and he blessid the syeges with grete Royalte and deuoycyon / and there sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges(please add an English translation of this quotation)

     1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V

   • To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay […].

     1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie

2. (obsolete) An ecclesiastical see.

3. (obsolete) The place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.

4. The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.  examples

5. A flock of heron.  examples

6. (obsolete) A toilet seat.

7. (obsolete) The anus; the rectum.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Another ground were certain holes or cavities observable about the siege; which being perceived in males, made some conceive there might be also a feminine nature in them.

     1650, Thomas Browne, chapter III, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], 1st book, page 17

8. (obsolete) Excrements, stool, fecal matter.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?

     1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]

9. (obsolete) Rank; grade; station; estimation.  quotations

   Quotations

   • I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.

     c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

10. (obsolete) The floor of a glass-furnace.

(obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

(transitive, uncommon) To assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.  examples