Search

to attack on all sides; assail; harass:
to be beset by enemies; beset by difficulties.
to surround; hem in:
a village beset on all sides by dense forest.
to set or place upon; bestud:
a gold bracelet beset with jewels.
Nautical. to surround (a vessel) by ice, so that control of the helm is lost.
Contemporary Examples

The House version of the bill already exhibits significant symptoms of the problems that beset health reform.
How to Win 2010 Matthew Yglesias January 9, 2010

Every petty little hiccup that beset its launch was magnified as an index of its chronic malfunction.
The Quake at Condé Nast Tina Brown April 26, 2009

Of course, they observe, Obama was blessed as well as beset by his Republican adversaries.
The Last Lap Sean Wilentz November 2, 2008

During the 1980s and 1990s, London police were beset with stories of organized police corruption.
Britain’s Dodgy Coppers Graeme McLagan July 30, 2011

Many of the miseries that have beset Americans in the last two years have been too complex to easily explain.
Introducing Beast Books Tina Brown January 21, 2010

Historical Examples

At first navigation was beset with the greatest difficulties.
Celebrated Travels and Travellers Jules Verne

They are putty in the hands of the fears and forces that beset them from without.
The Conquest of Fear Basil King

The task is, however, beset with difficulties, on account of the great expense involved.
Meteorology Charles Fitzhugh Talman

He was beset on either side by the merciless fangs of his erstwhile comrades.
White Fang Jack London

And then he endeavoured to reason with himself, and to look the perils that beset him, in the face.
The Mysteries of London, v. 1/4 George W. M. Reynolds

verb (transitive) -sets, -setting, -set
(esp of dangers, temptations, or difficulties) to trouble or harass constantly
to surround or attack from all sides
(archaic) to cover with, esp with jewels
v.

Old English besettan “to put, place; own, keep; occupy, settle; cover, surround with, besiege,” from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan (cf. Old Saxon bisettjan, Dutch bezetten, Old High German bisezzan, German besetzen, Gothic bisatjan); see be- + set (v.). The figurative sense also was in Old English. Related: Beset (past tense); besetting.