Siege Meaning
/siːd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounMilitary action.
nounMilitary action., A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
Sentence Examples
A trebuchet is a siege weapon similar to a catapult.
The Turks held siege over the Castle of Eger for a long time.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The army began a long ____ of the castle, cutting off all food and water.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient fortress finally fell after a long ____ that lasted several months and exhausted the defenders.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, […], →OCLC, 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, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145:
"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:
"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"
— 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, →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The army began a long ____ of the castle, cutting off all food and water.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient fortress finally fell after a long ____ that lasted several months and exhausted the defenders.