beleaguer

Beleaguer means to pester or badger with persistence. A babysitter might find annoying the children who beleaguer her with requests for candy, cookies, games, and piggyback rides all at the same time.

Beleaguer originally meant to lay siege to, and originates from a 16th century Dutch term which meant to camp all around. It was not until later that beleaguer came to mean harass or bother in a determined way. Remember that there is a league in the middle of be-league-r and the spelling will be easy.

Definitions of beleaguer
  1. verb
    annoy persistently
    synonyms: badger, bug, pester, tease
    see moresee less
    type of:
    bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate, rag, torment
    treat cruelly
  2. verb
    surround so as to force to give up
    synonyms: besiege, circumvent, hem in, surround
    see moresee less
    types:
    blockade, seal off
    impose a blockade on
    ebb
    hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb
    type of:
    assail, attack
    launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with
Word Family
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