D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 9 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Siege

/sēj/ · IPA /sid͡ʒ/
01 n. A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne.
  1. 1.
    A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne.[Obs.]
    “A stately siege of sovereign majesty, And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay.” — Spenser.
    “In our great hall there stood a vacant chair . . . And Merlin called it “The siege perilous.”” — Tennyson.
  2. 2.
    Hence, place or situation; seat.[Obs.]
    “Ah! traitorous eyes, come out of your shameless siege forever.” — Painter (Palace of Pleasure).
  3. 3.
    Rank; grade; station; estimation.[Obs.]
    “I fetch my life and being From men of royal siege.” — Shak.
  4. 4.
    Passage of excrements; stool; fecal matter.[Obs.]
    “The siege of this mooncalf.” — Shak.
  5. 5.
    The sitting of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling the garrison to surrender; the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy's fire. See the Note under Blockade. See: Blockade
  6. 6.
    Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession.
    “Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast.” — Dryden.
  7. 7.
    The floor of a glass-furnace.
  8. 8.
    A workman's bench.
Phrases & compounds
Siege gun — a heavy gun for siege operations.
Siege train — artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.
02 v. t. To besiege; to beset.
  1. 1.
    To besiege; to beset.[R.]
    “Through all the dangers that can siege The life of man.” — Buron.