Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.
- v. To surround with troops; besiege. See Synonyms at besiege.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To besiege; surround with an army so as to preclude escape; blockade.
- Synonyms To invest, lay siege to, beset.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To surround with an army so as to preclude escape; to besiege; to blockade.
WordNet 3.0
- v. annoy persistently
- v. surround so as to force to give up
Etymologies
- Probably Dutch belegeren : be-, around (from Middle Dutch bie; see ambhi in Indo-European roots) + leger, camp; see legh- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Either way, until all schools are created equal, such drastic and sweeping policies will only aggravate the inconsistencies and inequities that already beleaguer our school system.”
The Huffington Post: Elizabeth Hampton: Eliminating January Regents Could Hurt Some Schools
“Serious troubles continue to beleaguer the operators of the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture that was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami.”
Voice of America: Japan Promises to Shut Down Fukushima Reactors By Year's End
“It avoids some of the diplomatic ploys of the big powers that beleaguer the international mechanisms.”
“At length, our leaders decided to beleaguer the city with siege machines, so that we might enter and worship the Savior at the Holy Sepulcher.”
“A similar verse can be found in chapter 9, verse 5 -- which in its snipped, out of context version could read: "fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war.”
“THAROOR: But Richard, where haven't we be generous -- look, after the Mumbai attacks, India deliberately chose not to adopt and beleaguer (ph) on military posturing.”
“JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An Australian employee of international mining giant Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. was shot dead while traveling by car near the company's massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province before dawn on Saturday, showing how simmering separatist tensions continue to beleaguer President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.”
“Is that number for effect or does it reflect the wide net cast to beleaguer Bill?”
“WARREN: OK, we don't have to beleaguer on that one.”
“Picts and Scots who beleaguer the early historical studies of most young”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘beleaguer’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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xulilux's list
leviathan, destitute, iapetus, caesura, ineffable, eschew, phosphene, fungible, antediluvian, nomenclature, mottle, europa and 84 more...
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Summers Vocabulary # 2
jejune, ingratiate, congruent, cryptic, beleaguer, tangential, impregnable, predilection, surly, dolorous, untoward, renege
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weird words
strange words with even stranger meanings
grotesque, coerce, cynosure, beleaguer, harlequin, bucolic, harlequinade

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