siege / sēj/ • n. a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside: Verdun had withstood a siege of ten weeks | [as adj.] siege warfare. ∎  a similar operation by a police or other force to compel the surrender of an armed person. ∎  a prolonged period of misfortune: I've been having a siege of headaches.PHRASES: lay siege to conduct a siege of (a place): government forces laid siege to the building fig. the press laid siege to her apartment. under siege (of a place) undergoing a siege.

siege XIII. ME. sege — OF. sege (mod. siège), f. assegier (mod. assièger) BESIEGE.

Siege

of herons: company of herons, from the way the heron waits for its prey in the shallows at its feet, 1452.

Examples : siege of bitterns, 1452; of cranes; of herons, 1452.