Siege

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Siege, n. [OE. sege, OF. siege, F. siège a seat, a siege; cf. It. seggia, seggio, zedio, a seat, asseggio, assedio, a siege, F. assiéger to besiege, It. & LL. assediare, L. obsidium a siege, besieging; all ultimately fr. L. sedere to sit. See Sit, and cf. See, n.].

•  A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "A stately siege of sovereign majesty,
  And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay."  [1913 Webster]

  "In our great hall there stood a vacant chair . . .
  And Merlin called it “The siege perilous.”"  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, place or situation; seat.  [1913 Webster]

  "Ah! traitorous eyes, come out of your shameless siege forever."  [1913 Webster]
•  Rank; grade; station; estimation.  [1913 Webster]

  "I fetch my life and being
  From men of royal siege."  [1913 Webster]
•  Passage of excrements; stool; fecal matter.  [1913 Webster]

  "The siege of this mooncalf."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession.  [1913 Webster]

  "Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast."  [1913 Webster]
•  The floor of a glass-furnace.  [1913 Webster]
•  A workman's bench.  Knught.  [1913 Webster]

Siege gun, a heavy gun for siege operations. -- Siege train, artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.

Siege, v. t. 

 To besiege; to beset.  [1913 Webster]
"Through all the dangers that can siege
The life of man."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Siege, n.
1 a a military operation in which an attacking force seeks to compel the surrender of a fortified place by surrounding it and cutting off supplies etc. b a similar operation by police etc. to force the surrender of an armed person. c the period during which a siege lasts.
2 a persistent attack or campaign of persuasion.

Idiom

lay siege to esp. Mil. conduct the siege of. raise the siege of abandon or cause the abandonment of an attempt to take (a place) by siege. siege-gun hist. a heavy gun used in sieges. siege-train artillery and other equipment for a siege, with vehicles etc.

Etymology

ME f. OF sege seat f. assegier BESIEGE

THESAURUS

Siege

attack, beleaguer, beleaguerment, besetment, besiege, besiegement, blockade, blockading, bottle up, bout, circumscription, confinement, cordon off, cordoning, encircle, encirclement, enclosure, encompassment, envelopment, go, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration, inclusion, investment, lay siege to, onslaught, pincer movement, quarantine, seizure, spell, vertical envelopment

ROGET THESAURUS

Siege

Attack

N attack, assault, assault and battery, onset, onslaught, charge, aggression, offense, incursion, inroad, invasion, irruption, outbreak, estrapade, ruade, coupe de main, sally, sortie, camisade, raid, foray, run at, run against, dead set at, storm, storming, boarding, escalade, siege, investment, obsession, bombardment, cannonade, fire, volley, platoon fire, file fire, fusillade, sharpshooting, broadside, raking fire, cross fire, volley of grapeshot, whiff of the grape, feu d'enfer, cut, thrust, lunge, pass, passado, carte and tierce, home thrust, coupe de bec, kick, punch, battue, razzia, Jacquerie, dragonnade, devastation, eboulement, assailant, aggressor, invader, base of operations, point of attack, echelon, attacking, aggressive, offensive, obsidional, up in arms, on the offensive, Int, up and at them!, the din of arms, the yell of savage rage, the shriek of agony, the groan of death, their fatal hands no second stroke intend, thirst for glory quells the love of life.