Beleaguer

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Beleaguer \Be*lea"guer\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Beleaguered}; p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Beleaguering}.] [D. belegeren (akin to G.
     belagern, Sw. bel[aum]gra, Dan. beleire); pref. be- = E. be-
     + leger bed, camp, army, akin to E. lair. See {Lair}.]
     To surround with an army so as to preclude escape; to
     besiege; to blockade.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           The wail of famine in beleaguered towns. --Longfellow.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To block up; environ; invest; encompass.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  beleaguer
       v 1: annoy persistently; "The children teased the boy because of
            his stammer" [syn: {tease}, {badger}, {pester}, {bug}]
       2: surround so as to force to give up; "The Turks besieged
          Vienna" [syn: {besiege}, {surround}, {hem in}, {circumvent}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  61 Moby Thesaurus words for "beleaguer":
     annoy, bedevil, beset, besiege, blockade, bound, box in, cage,
     chamber, close in, compass, contain, coop, coop in, coop up,
     cordon, cordon off, corral, encircle, enclose, encompass, enshrine,
     envelop, fence in, gnaw, harass, harry, hedge in, hem in, house in,
     impound, imprison, incarcerate, include, invest, jail, kennel,
     lay siege to, leaguer, mew, mew up, pen, pen in, pester, plague,
     pocket, quarantine, rail in, shrine, shut in, shut up, siege,
     soften up, stable, storm, surround, tease, wall in, wrap, yard,
     yard up