siege
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: sēj
ipa: /siːd͡ʒ/
ipa: /sid͡ʒ/
rhymes: -iːdʒ
Forms: form: sieges
form: syege
Etymology: From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 5:
text: Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.
ref: 2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World, Praeger, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Military action.
A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
glosses: Military action.
A period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: Military action.
A prolonged assault or attack.
examples: text: 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
ref: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V:
text: To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay[…].
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
glosses: A seat.
A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.
glosses: A seat.
An ecclesiastical see.
glosses: A seat.
The place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.
glosses: A seat.
The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.
glosses: A seat.
A flock of herons.
glosses: A seat.
A toilet seat.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1650, Thomas Browne, chapter III, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 17:
glosses: A seat.
The anus; the rectum.
examples: text: Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?
ref: 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, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
glosses: A seat.
Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
examples: text: I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.
ref: 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, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
glosses: A seat.
Rank; grade; station; estimation.
glosses: A seat.
The floor of a glass-furnace.
glosses: A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
Synonyms: word: bathroom
raw_tags: with a toilet seat
Derived terms: besiege
countersiege
lay siege
siege engine
siegehouse
siege mentality
Siege Perilous
siege piece
siege tower
siege train
siege warfare
siege weapon
state of siege