---
title: besiege — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «besiege» in the school dictionary: To surround a castle, town or city with an army so that nobody can get in or out, to make it give up. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# besiege

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** nobody, army, fans, food, Reporters, news · **What happens:** surround, get, make, give up, crowd, besiege · **To what, where:** castle, army, someone, singer, many questions, town

<!-- .vabout -->
«besiege» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 8 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [besiege in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/besiege.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To surround a castle, town or city with an army so that nobody can get in or out, to make it give up.

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:m1:1
# text = To surround a castle, town or city with an army so that nobody can get in or out, to make it give up.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	surround	surround	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	16	mark	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	fixed	_	_
14	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	16	nsubj	_	_
15	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
17	in	in	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	out	out	ADV	RB	_	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	conj	_	_
23	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	_
25	up	up	ADP	RP	_	24	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surround** | to-infinitive |  | a castle and town or city |  |  |  | with a army | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent castle=Destination with army=Theme |
| 2 | **get** | can | nobody |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **make** | to-infinitive | nobody *not said here* | army |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **give up** | infinitive | army *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To crowd around someone or something, as in «fans besieged the singer».

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:m2:1
# text = To crowd around someone or something, as in «fans besieged the singer».
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	crowd	crowd	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	around	around	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	fans	fan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	singer	singer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crowd** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | someone |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme around someone=Destination |
| 2 | **besiege** *in a quote* | past | fans | the singer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To send someone very many questions, letters or requests.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:m3:1
# text = To send someone very many questions, letters or requests.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	send	send	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obj	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	requests	request	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | to-infinitive |  | many questions and letters or requests | someone |  |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent someone=Destination question=Theme |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The army besieged the castle for six months.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x1:1
# text = The army besieged the castle for six months.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past | the army | the castle |  |  | month |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The town was besieged and food ran out.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x2:1
# text = The town was besieged and food ran out.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past · passive |  | the town |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **run out** | past | food |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fans besieged the footballer outside the stadium.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x3:1
# text = Fans besieged the footballer outside the stadium.
1	Fans	fan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	footballer	footballer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	outside	outside	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	stadium	stadium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past | Fans | the footballer |  |  |  | outside the stadium | tree rules |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher was besieged with questions about the trip.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x4:1
# text = The teacher was besieged with questions about the trip.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past · passive |  | the teacher |  |  |  | with questions about the trip | tree rules |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Reporters besieged the house after the news broke.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x5:1
# text = Reporters besieged the house after the news broke.
1	Reporters	reporter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past | Reporters | the house |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | past | the news |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Vikings besieged Paris in 885.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x6:1
# text = The Vikings besieged Paris in 885.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Vikings	Viking	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Paris	Paris	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	885	885	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past | the Vikings | Paris |  | 885 |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Our shop was besieged by shoppers on sale day.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x7:1
# text = Our shop was besieged by shoppers on sale day.
1	Our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	shop	shop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	shoppers	shopper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	sale	sale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past · passive | shoppers on sale day | Our shop |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 8 {#x8}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Having collected a large army Heracles set out for Euboea in order to besiege Oechalia, its capital.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:besiege:x8:1
# text = Having collected a large army Heracles set out for Euboea in order to besiege Oechalia, its capital.
1	Having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	aux	_	_
2	collected	collect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	Heracles	Heracles	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	set	set	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	out	out	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Euboea	Euboea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	14	mark	_	_
12	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	fixed	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	besiege	besiege	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
15	Oechalia	Oechalia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	capital	capital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **collect** | gerund · perfect | Heracles *not said here* | a large army |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent army=Theme |
| 2 | **set out** | past | Heracles |  |  |  |  | for Euboea | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **besiege** | to-infinitive | Heracles *not said here* | Oechalia |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
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