siege
seej
/siːdʒ/
A military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies to compel surrender.
Implies a prolonged, agonizing waiting game of starvation and attrition rather than an active, direct assault.
The story behind the word. The word siege literally means 'a sitting'. It comes from the Latin verb 'sedere', meaning 'to sit'. In medieval warfare, laying siege to a castle meant the invading army would literally sit down outside the walls and wait for the defenders to starve.
Word relationships
- blockade: A blockade specifically focuses on cutting off transit and supplies, often by sea, while a siege is a broader military effort to capture a fortified place.
- encirclement: Encirclement is a tactical position of surrounding an enemy, but it does not necessarily imply the long-term starvation tactics of a siege.
- liberation: Liberation is the act of setting a place or people free from siege or occupation.
- evacuation: Evacuation is the organized withdrawal of people, whereas a siege traps them inside.
Commonly confused with
- invasion: An invasion is an active entry of armed forces into a territory to conquer it, whereas a siege is the surrounding of a specific fortified point.
Word family
- besiege (verb): To surround a place with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender.
Collocations
- lay siege to
- under siege
- lift the siege
Idioms & expressions
- siege mentality
Example sentences
- "The brutal siege of Leningrad lasted for nearly nine hundred days, causing catastrophic loss of civilian life." Historical account of the Second World War.
Memory hook
Think of a 'siege' as sitting on a 'seat' outside a castle until the defenders give up. To lay siege is to take a seat and wait.
When not to use
Do not use for a quick, sudden attack; a siege by definition requires a sustained period of surrounding the target.
Fun facts
- The longest siege in history was the Siege of Candia (modern Heraklion, Crete), which lasted for over 21 years from 1648 to 1669.
Explore more words
attrition, fortress, garrison, capitulate, outage, requisition
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