Meaning & use

siege

noun·Academic

A prolonged military operation in which an army surrounds a place to cut off supplies and force it to surrender.

See it in a sentence

The city endured a brutal siege that lasted nearly a year before it fell.

Historians study the siege to understand how the defenders survived so long without food.

A note on using this word

The idiom 'under siege' is often used figuratively to describe intense pressure or criticism, not just military conflict.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “siege”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.