siege

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to capture it.
• noun A prolonged period, as of illness.
• noun Obsolete A seat, especially a throne.
• transitive verb To subject to a siege; besiege.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A seat; a throne.
• noun A fixed situation or position; station as to rank or class; specifically, of the heron, a station or an attitude of watchfulness for prey.
• noun A camp; an encampment, especially as the seat of a besieging army.
• noun The stationing or sitting down of an attacking force in a strong encampment before or around a fortified place, for the purpose of capturing it by continuous offensive operations, such as the breaching, undermining, or scaling of walls or other works, the destruction of its defenders, the cutting off of supplies, etc.; the act of besieging, or the state of being besieged; besiegement; beleaguerment: as, to push the siege; to undergo a siege; hence, figuratively, a prolonged or persistent endeavor to overcome resistance maintained with the aid of a shelter or cover of any kind.
• noun Stool; excrement; fecal matter.
• noun In mech.:
• noun The floor of a glass-furnace.
• noun A workmen's table or bench.
• noun A flock, as of herons, bitterns, or cranes.
• To lay siege to; besiege; beleaguer; beset.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb rare To besiege; to beset.
• noun obsolete A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne.
• noun obsolete Hence, place or situation; seat.
• noun obsolete Rank; grade; station; estimation.
• noun obsolete Passage of excrements; stool; fecal matter.
• noun The sitting of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling the garrison to surrender; the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy's fire. See the Note under Blockade.
• noun Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession.
• noun The floor of a glass-furnace.
• noun A workman's bench.
• noun a heavy gun for siege operations.
• noun artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun seat
• noun military action
• verb transitive To assault a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack