What's the difference between beset and besiege?

Beset


Definition:

  • (imp. & p. p.) of Beset
  • (v. t.) To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects.
  • (v. t.) To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade.
  • (v. t.) To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc.
  • (v. t.) To occupy; to employ; to use up.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "EA's next CEO inherits a company beset by a broad range of legacy problems created not just by difficult retail market conditions but also by its own hand," says Nick Gibson an analyst at Games Investor Consulting Ltd. "It has been too eager to use major acquisitions – Jamdat, Playfish, Bioware, PopCap etc – to try to accelerate growth or gain early leadership positions in emerging markets, often overpaying by substantial amounts for companies that subsequently fail to deliver what EA expected they would."
  • (2) The dramatic rise of Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and Iraq is helping to tear apart the Pakistani Taliban, the beleaguered militant group beset by infighting and splits.
  • (3) So, in The Devil Wears Prada , the ferocious magazine chief played by Meryl Streep is beset by secret misery: unfaithful husband, tricky kids, wig issues.
  • (4) He’s a great defender when he hits you but when you have guys like Matt Giteau who is light on his feet and can change direction …” And what of England, hosts of the tournament who, beset by selection quandaries, forgot the fundamentals against France last weekend.
  • (5) Although substantial difficulties beset the use of meta-analysis in epidemiology, many of these problems are also implicit in the execution of traditional, narrative reviews.
  • (6) Berrimah, built 35 years ago, has been beset by reports that it is too harsh an environment for children – particularly young female offenders, who will be housed in the former maximum security wing – and is falling apart, despite $800,000 worth of refurbishments.
  • (7) If we say something, the world accuses us of interfering with the press, so we’re not in a comfortable position now, but after 1 November we will settle up with all of them.” Beset by terror and crisis at home and war abroad, Turks prepare for a fateful choice Read more Rights groups questioned the move against opposition media outlets so close to an election.
  • (8) World War Z was beset with problems during its production, involving rewrites and the whole 40-minute third act being reshot , but the struggle proved worth it as the film made $540m worldwide earlier this year.
  • (9) And also, I would say, verbal and physical abuse against migrants as well as a number of cases where migrants don’t receive their belongings when they’re released from detention.” Already hungry, tired and demoralised, deported migrants are also beset by bureaucratic problems as thy pass through Nogales, Carroll said.
  • (10) In what appeared to be the third mysterious air tragedy to beset south-east Asian air travel this year, the Airbus 320-200 passenger jet took off from the Indonesian city of Surabaya for Singapore at 5.35am on Sunday, but lost all contact with air control at 6.17am.
  • (11) Since the launch of the insurance market federal website on 1 October, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act has been beset with problems .
  • (12) Derby-based Rolls-Royce has had a turbulent year beset by profit warnings and the continuing ramifications from allegations of bribery that first surfaced in 2012.
  • (13) Sisi inherits a country beset by many of the same challenges that brought down his predecessors Morsi and Hosni Mubarak – problems that analysts warn may also cause his own popularity to wane quickly.
  • (14) In a population group beset by a high incidence of tuberculosis, the heavy smoker who has attained his fifth decade seems particularly vulnerable to the combined diseases.
  • (15) Class demonstrations, although they provide a partial answer to the problem, are beset with a number of disadvantages.
  • (16) The anonymity resulting from increasing specialization, the tendency to think impersonally in terms of probabilities following the introduction of screening programmes with routine examinations and the connected legalization of medicine are addressed as particularly important problems in this respect; all these trends beset the personal doctor-patient relationship with difficulties and suggest the procedure with the greatest technological input as the safest and most convenient solution, thus making it difficult to find the correct degree of moderation.
  • (17) Whatever the faults of the Australian media , by and large we have not sought to profit from the ruthless destruction of the famous or the powerful for the mere exercising of the human frailties which beset us all.” The Olle lecture is held by ABC 702 each year in memory of the late broadcaster Andrew Olle who died of a brain tumour in 1995.
  • (18) Though framed by record high temperatures and an increasing number of extreme weather events, the Paris talks are already beset by the same problems that repeatedly dog climate change negotiations: the richest countries steadfastly refuse to meet legal commitments and shoulder their share of responsibility , preferring to uphold the desires of all-powerful corporate lobbies.
  • (19) His Glasgow adventure was ultimately sullied by bad results and bad relations with several players - the very same problems that have beset Lacombe at PSG.
  • (20) Since then the former deputy prime minister has been beset by legal problems and spent several years in prison after being convicted of corruption and an earlier sodomy charge.

Besiege


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To beset or surround with armed forces, for the purpose of compelling to surrender; to lay siege to; to beleaguer; to beset.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In practice they are so elastic that they have been used to deny pasta to besieged Gazans.
  • (2) Access to besieged areas was a condition of a truce brokered earlier this year by the US and Russia , but the Syrian government has continued to ignore requests for aid deliveries, humanitarian officials say.
  • (3) Around 800,000 people died of starvation in one of the most horrific chapters of the war as the city was besieged by the Nazis for two and a half years.
  • (4) Commanders in the besieged Libyan rebel enclave of Misrata have complained that Nato has ignored requests for air support during a week of heavy attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces.
  • (5) Madaya: residents of besieged Syrian town say they are being starved to death Read more The Syrian regime and Hezbollah have put Madaya under siege for more than six months now as a response to the siege of the northern towns of Fua and Kefraya by anti-regime forces.
  • (6) At home, he’s besieged by leadership speculation of sufficient intensity to see his conservative allies resort to public verbal knife-fights.
  • (7) By creating an environment of intolerance – one could even say outright hostility – towards an already besieged community, the laws have fostered a surge of anti-gay violence across the country.
  • (8) Speaking after a day of high-level intelligence briefings with British officials in London, Abbott described the unfolding atrocity in northern Iraq as a "humanitarian catastrophe" and said Australia would provide humanitarian aid to Yazidi refugees besieged by Islamic State (Isis) forces on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.
  • (9) The UN waits too long to get access to one besieged area even though international law clearly permits it,” argues a Syrian involved in below-the-radar humanitarian work – the sort that comes, unlike government assistance, with no strings attached.
  • (10) They have kept the city open and have reopened it when it was besieged.
  • (11) The tank fired round after round, trying to help the besieged soldiers, but it didn't move forward, fearing the IEDs planted by Khalil and his men.
  • (12) Glee and American Horror Story impresario Ryan Murphy returns with this camptastic take on the slasher genre where a sorority house is besieged by a killer.
  • (13) Hefazat-e-Islam officials say they will "besiege" Dhaka next month if the government does not agree to their demands.
  • (14) When Egypt's security forces stormed the besieged al-Fath mosque in central Cairo almost two weeks ago among those arrested were four siblings with joint Irish-Egyptian nationality – three women aged 21 to 28, and their brother, 17.
  • (15) We haven’t heard the leader of the Labour party speak out enough to demand UK airdrops to besieged civilians who are dying in their thousands.” A Labour spokesman said: “Jeremy has repeatedly condemned the Russian military intervention and bombing campaign in Syria and called for an independent investigation of evidence of war crimes.
  • (16) Kenneth Feinberg, the US treasury department official who is scrutinising pay packages at bailed-out banks, said that Lewis – besieged by regulatory investigations and lambasted by shareholders – should get no salary or bonus for the year.
  • (17) Matthew Pennycook is MP for Greenwich and Woolwich Louise Haigh: ‘Bringing down Corbyn would be an act of betrayal’ Facebook Twitter Pinterest Louise Haigh New Labour was a response to a Tory party in tatters, besieged by scandal, its fiscal credibility in ruins, tired and out of ideas.
  • (18) But within months, as the bodies piled up in Syria, that support would start draining away, leaving Akhras besieged by criticism and questions about the regime's judgment that he has struggled to answer.
  • (19) Are we fighting for a better understanding of what is going on in our sport or are we trying to get power?’” Saddique Shaban (@SaddiqueShaban) No let up in Kenyan athletes siege at Roadha House as besieged officials watch in awe.
  • (20) Iraq's prime minister has urged people in the besieged city of Falluja to drive out al-Qaida-linked insurgents to pre-empt a military offensive that officials said could be launched within days.