siege (sēj)
n.

1. The surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to capture it.
2. A prolonged period, as of illness: a siege of asthma.
3. Obsolete. A seat, especially a throne.

tr.v., sieged, sieg·ing, sieg·es.
To subject to a siege; besiege. See synonyms at besiege.

[Middle English sege, from Old French, seat, from Vulgar Latin *sedicum, from *sedicāre, to sit, from Latin sedēre.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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