beset.
Senses relating to surrounding.
Meaning & usage
Senses relating to surrounding. To assail or attack (someone) from all sides; to set about.
Senses relating to surrounding. To occupy and block (an entrance, a passage, etc.), especially to prevent people from passing.
Senses relating to surrounding. To decorate (someone or something) by surrounding with accessories, etc.
Senses relating to surrounding. Followed by with: to encircle or surround (someone or something); to hem in.
Senses relating to surrounding. Followed by with: to encircle or surround (someone or something); to hem in. To trap (a ship) within frozen sea; to ice in.
Senses relating to surrounding. Of dangers, difficulties, enemies, etc.: to negatively affect (someone or something); to trouble.
Senses relating to surrounding. Of soldiers, etc.: to surround (a place) to compel surrender; to besiege.
Senses relating to surrounding. To capture (an animal); to ensnare, to entrap.
Senses relating to placing or setting. To arrange or set (something) in order.
Senses relating to placing or setting. To give (something); to bestow, to present.
Senses relating to placing or setting. To spend or use (something, such as effort, money, time, or words).
Senses relating to placing or setting. Followed by on or upon: to place or set (love, trust, etc.) on someone.
Senses relating to being appropriate. To be appropriate or fitting for (something); to become, to befit.
Senses relating to being appropriate. Followed by with: to accord or go well with something.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English besetten, bisetten (“to besiege, blockade; to fill, occupy; to harass, beset; to allot, bestow; to arrange, manage; to place, set; to provide for; to treat in a certain way”), from Old English besettan, bisettan (“to surround, beset; to set near; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisattjan, from Proto-Germanic *bisatjaną (“to fill, occupy”), from *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at; near; on”)) + *satjaną (“to place down, set”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)). By surface analysis, be- (prefix meaning ‘around; by, close to, near, next to’) + set. cognates * Danish besætte (“to occupy; obsess”) * Dutch bezetten (“to sit in; occupy; fill”) * German besetzen (“to seize; occupy; garrison”) * German Low German besetten (“to occupy”) * Saterland Frisian besätte (“to occupy”) * Swedish besätta (“to fill; occupy; beset”) * West Frisian besette (“to occupy”)
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.