Meaning
In its literal military sense, a city, fortress or building that is under siege is surrounded by armed forces or police, cut off from supplies and escape, and pressed to surrender. Figuratively - the dominant everyday use - a person, group or institution is under siege when beset by persistent difficulties, pressure, criticism or attack from many directions: a government under siege from the press, a firm under siege after a scandal. Almost always predicative: a city, an industry, a leader is under siege. A journalistic favourite that is often hyperbolic when applied to ordinary criticism; reserve the literal sense for genuine encirclement or blockade, including police sieges. Regional use: English worldwide.
Origin
Siege entered English in the early thirteenth century - the OED's earliest evidence is from around 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle, verified directly - from Old French siege, a seat or throne, ultimately from Latin sedere, to sit. Etymonline dates the military sense to about 1300: the notion is an army sitting down before a place, and besiege and lay siege to are of the same age. Merriam-Webster defines under siege both literally, surrounded with soldiers or police, and figuratively, very seriously attacked or criticized by many people. The OED's phrase-level dating sits behind its paywall, and no public source verified offers a first date for the figurative sense, so none is claimed; the OED's dated compound nouns siege economy of 1962 and siege mentality of 1969 chart the metaphor's twentieth-century spread into politics, business and journalism.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- lay siege to
- siege mentality
Usage Examples
- The mayor's office has been under siege from reporters since the story broke.
- Once the blockade began, the city remained under siege for forty days.
- Small shopkeepers feel under siege as rents climb and online giants swallow their trade.