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siege

1. A seat; especially, a royal seat; a throne. Upon the very siege of justice. A stately siege of sovereign majesty, And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay. (Spenser) In our great hall there stood a vacant chair . . . And merlin called it The siege perilous.' (Tennyson)

2. Hence, place or situation; seat. Ah! traitorous eyes, come out of your shameless siege forever. (painter (Palace of pleasure))

3. Rank; grade; station; estimation. I fetch my life and being From men of royal siege. (Shak)

4. Passage of excrements; stool; faecal matter. The siege of this mooncalf. (Shak)

5. 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.

6. Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession. Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast. (Dryden)

7. The floor of a glass-furnace.

8. A workman's bench. Siege gun, a heavy gun for siege operations. Siege train, artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.

Origin: OE. Sege, OF. Siege, F. Siege a seat, a siege; cf. It. Seggia, seggio, zedio, a seat, asseggio, assedio, a siege, F. Assieger to besiege, It. & LL. Assediare, L. Obsidium a siege, besieging; all ultimately fr. L. Sedere to sit. See Sit, and cf. See.