beleaguered


Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms.

be·lea·guer

 (bĭ-lē′gər)
tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers
1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.
2. To surround with troops; besiege: The enemy beleaguered the enclave.

[Probably Dutch belegeren : be-, around (from Middle Dutch bie; see ambhi in Indo-European roots) + leger, camp; see legh- in Indo-European roots.]

be·lea′guer·ment n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

beleaguered

(bɪˈliːɡəd)
adj
experiencing difficulties, opposition or criticismsurrounded by enemies
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

beleaguered

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

beleaguered

adjective
1. harassed, trouble, plagued, torment, hassled (informal), aggravated (informal), badgered, persecuted, pestered, vexed, put upon There have been seven attempts against the beleaguered government.
2. besieged, surrounded, blockaded, encompassed, beset, encircle, assailed, hemmed in, hedged in, environed The rebels continue to push their way towards the beleagured capital.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
مُحاصَر
obležený
belejret
ostromlott
umkringdur
apgultas
aplenkts
obliehaný
kuşatılmışsarılmış

beleaguered

[bɪˈliːgəd] ADJ
1. [city] → asediado
2. (fig) (= harassed) → atormentado, acosado
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

beleaguered

[bɪˈliːgərd] adj
(= under siege) [city] → assiégé(e); [army] → cerné(e)
(fig) (= under pressure) [government, president] → pressé(e) de toutes parts
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

beleaguered

[bɪˈliːgəd] adj (city) → assediato/a; (person) → assillato/a; (army) → accerchiato/a; (project, organization) → pieno/a di problemi
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

beleaguered

(biˈliːgəd) adjective
under attack. a beleaguered castle; The city was beleaguered.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
For what dread of want or poverty that can reach or harass the student can compare with what the soldier feels, who finds himself beleaguered in some stronghold mounting guard in some ravelin or cavalier, knows that the enemy is pushing a mine towards the post where he is stationed, and cannot under any circumstances retire or fly from the imminent danger that threatens him?
Upon a high tower within the beleaguered city a man appeared.
Thar Ban and another by the side of the rostrum had been the first to note the coming of Carthoris, and it was with them he battled for possession of the red girl, while the others hastened to meet the host advancing from the beleaguered city.
Here is a crumbling wall that was old when Columbus discovered America; was old when Peter the Hermit roused the knightly men of the Middle Ages to arm for the first Crusade; was old when Charlemagne and his paladins beleaguered enchanted castles and battled with giants and genii in the fabled days of the olden time; was old when Christ and his disciples walked the earth; stood where it stands today when the lips of Memnon were vocal and men bought and sold in the streets of ancient Thebes!
The officers of the British army, and the loyal gentry of the province, most of whom were collected within the beleaguered town, had been invited to a masked ball; for it was the policy of Sir William Howe to hide the distress and danger of the period, and the desperate aspect of the siege, under an ostentation of festivity.
He walked from one end of the hall to the other, with the attitude of one who advances to charge an enemy, or to storm the breach of a beleaguered place, sometimes ejaculating to himself, sometimes addressing Athelstane, who stoutly and stoically awaited the issue of the adventure, digesting, in the meantime, with great composure, the liberal meal which he had made at noon, and not greatly interesting himself about the duration of his captivity, which he concluded, would, like all earthly evils, find an end in Heaven's good time.
Last of all came the catapults, those great engines of destruction which hurled two hundred pound bowlders with mighty force against the walls of beleaguered castles.
We were as secret as possible about it, but in some unfathomable way the friends ashore got word to the beleaguered Italians to keep their eyes open.
Twenty years earlier the means of resistance must have been far fewer, and the enemy in command of almost all the lines of access between the beleaguered villages; and, considering these things, I felt the sinister force of Harmon's phrase: "Most of the smart ones get away." But if that were the case, how could any combination of obstacles have hindered the flight of a man like Ethan Frome?
Such a black shrill city, combining the qualities of a smoky house and a scolding wife; such a gritty city; such a hopeless city, with no rent in the leaden canopy of its sky; such a beleaguered city, invested by the great Marsh Forces of Essex and Kent.
The bishop said, the CBCP-ECMI is closely monitoring the situation of Filipino workers abroad particularly beleaguered OFWs including the more than 1,000 workers who lost their job in Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Filipino seamen in Nigeria who had been released, and the 22 truck drivers who were working under unacceptable conditions in Denmark among other cases.
BEIRUT: The organizer of Lebanon's beleaguered gay pride week has been briefly detained days into the celebrations and the rest of the festival's events canceled.