Beleaguer

to surround with military forces.
to surround or beset, as with troubles.
historical examples

before g-d can make her in truth his own, make her verify her name, he will have to beleaguer and reduce her.
the book of isaiah, volume i (of 2) george adam smith

in his tragedy of ezelino, after the tyrant’s downfall, a captain is sent to beleaguer treviso, and reduce ezelino’s garrison.
the memoirs of count carlo gozzi; volume the first count carlo gozzi

and yet i cannot think that any scottish or french rovers could land in such force as to beleaguer the fortalice.
the white company arthur conan doyle

somehow that seemed to make her matter less, and dodo had not at present made any determined effort to beleaguer her.
dodo’s daughter e. f. benson

make a detour through some p-ss, forestall your foes, beleaguer them, protect our troops!
the dramatic values in plautus wilton wallace blancke

for edward took his army to beleaguer calais, and after blockading it for nearly a year forced it to surrender.
encyclopaedia britannica, 11th edition, volume 9, slice 5 various

should we have to beleaguer it we may count upon some help from within.’
micah clarke arthur conan doyle

they, however, continued to beleaguer the place, occasionally showing in great m-sses.
our sailors w.h.g. kingston

having pardoned their offences against ourselves, we went back to beleaguer samarkand.
the bbur-nma in english babur, emperor of hindustan

verb (transitive)
to trouble persistently; har-ss
to lay siege to
v.

1580s, from dutch or low german belegeren “to besiege,” from be- “around” (see be-) + legeren “to camp,” from leger “bed, camp, army, lair,” from proto-germanic -leg-raz-, from pie -legh-to- “lie” (see lie (v.2)). a word from the flemish wars (cf. swedish belägra, dutch belegeren “besiege,” german belagerung “siege”). spelling influenced by league. related: beleaguered; beleaguering.