under siege

phrase

1
: surrounded with soldiers or police officers in a siege
The city was under siege and food was getting scarce.
2
: very seriously attacked or criticized by many people
The newspaper has been under siege lately by its readers for printing a false story.

Examples of under siege in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The family of a Palestinian American man have been under siege in their home in the occupied West Bank. Frank Langfitt, NPR, 17 Aug. 2026 Advertisement Today’s masculinist influencers warn that masculinity is under siege and argue that modern society has made men dangerously weak. Michael Kimmel, Time, 15 Aug. 2026 Sarajevo is a film festival born out of war — its first edition, in 1995, took place while the city was still under siege — and that sense of resistance, of using film to empower communities, still sits at the heart of the festival today. Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026 The director recalls being selected for the first edition of the event in 1995, when the Bosnian War was still raging, and Sarajevo remained under siege. Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 14 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for under siege

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Cite this Entry

“Under siege.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/under%20siege. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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