Adjacent Words

Beset definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BESET', v.t. pret. and pp. beset.
1. To surround; to inclose; to hem in; to besiege; as, we are beset with enemies; a city is beset with troops. Hence,
2. To press on all sides, so as to perplex; to entangle, so as to render escape difficult or impossible.
Adam sore beset replied.
3. To waylay.
4. To fall upon.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" [syn: harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke]
2: assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards" [syn: beset, set upon]
3: decorate or cover lavishly (as with gems) [syn: encrust, incrust, beset]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-set; -setting) Etymology: Middle English besetten, from Old English besettan, from be- + settan to set Date: before 12th century 1. to set or stud with or as if with ornaments 2. trouble, harass <inflation besets the economy> 3. a. to set upon ; assail <the settlers were beset by savages> b. to hem in ; surround • besetment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (besetting; past and past part. beset) 1 attack or harass persistently (beset by worries). 2 surround or hem in (a person etc.). 3 archaic cover round with (beset with pearls). Phrases and idioms: besetting sin the sin that especially or most frequently tempts one. Derivatives: besetment n. Etymology: OE besettan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Beset Be*set", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beset; p. pr. & vb. n. Besetting.] [AS. besettan (akin to OHG. bisazjan, G. besetzen, D. bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set.] 1. To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects. A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. --Spectator. The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. --Evelyn. 2. To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. ``Beset with foes.'' --Milton. Let thy troops beset our gates. --Addison. 3. To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc. ``Adam, sore beset, replied.'' --Milton. ``Beset with ills.'' --Addison. ``Incommodities which beset old age.'' --Burke. 4. To occupy; to employ; to use up. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Syn: To surround; inclose; environ; hem in; besiege; encircle; encompass; embarrass; urge; press.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Beset Be*set", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beset; p. pr. & vb. n. Besetting.] [AS. besettan (akin to OHG. bisazjan, G. besetzen, D. bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set.] 1. To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects. A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. --Spectator. The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. --Evelyn. 2. To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade. ``Beset with foes.'' --Milton. Let thy troops beset our gates. --Addison. 3. To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc. ``Adam, sore beset, replied.'' --Milton. ``Beset with ills.'' --Addison. ``Incommodities which beset old age.'' --Burke. 4. To occupy; to employ; to use up. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Syn: To surround; inclose; environ; hem in; besiege; encircle; encompass; embarrass; urge; press.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(besets, besetting) Note: The form 'beset' is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle. If someone or something is beset by problems or fears, they have many problems or fears which affect them severely. The country is beset by severe economic problems. ...the problems now besetting the country. VERB: be V-ed by/with n, V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

be-set' (euperistatos): The most common sense of this word is "to surround." This is the thought in Ps 139:5, and teaches the omnipresence of God. Often wicked men find that the things which they have done so envelope them that they cannot escape ruin (Ho 7:2). The reference in Heb 12:1 is first of all against the sin of apostasy against which repeated warning is given in this book. But the warning is also against any sin that is especially dangerous to us. It, again and again, surrounds us like a besieging army. To surrender would be traitorous and disgraceful, since the Captain of the Lord's host is with us.

Jacob W. Kapp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Surround, encompass, environ, encircle, enclose, besiege, hem in. See beleaguer. 2. Embarrass, perplex, entangle. 3. Set, bestud, bestick, set about, engirdle, encircle, decorate, ornament, embellish, garnish.

Moby Thesaurus

abashed, afflict, afflicted, aggravate, agitated, ail, annoy, annoyed, anxious, apply pressure, assail, assault, attack, badger, badgered, bait, baited, barred, be at, be the matter, bedevil, bedeviled, beleaguer, beleaguered, besiege, besieged, blandish, blockade, blockaded, bother, bothered, bound, box in, bristle, brown off, bug, bugged, bullyrag, bullyragged, burn up, buttonhole, cabined, cage, caged, cajole, cast down, chagrined, chamber, chapfallen, chivied, chivy, circle, cloistered, close in, closed-in, coax, compass, compel, complicate matters, concern, confined, confused, contain, coop, coop in, coop up, cooped, cordon, cordon off, cordoned, cordoned off, corral, corralled, cramped, crawl with, creep with, cribbed, devil, deviled, discomfited, discomforted, discommode, discompose, discomposed, disconcerted, disquieted, distemper, distress, distressed, disturb, disturbed, dog, dogged, drive, dun, embarrassed, encircle, enclose, enclosed, encompass, enshrine, envelop, environ, exasperate, exercise, exert pressure, fall, fash, fence in, fenced, fret, fretted, gem, get, gird, girdle, grip, gripe, grubby, harass, harassed, harried, harry, haunt, haunted, heckle, heckled, hector, hectored, hedge in, hedged, hem, hem in, hemmed, hold, hound, hounded, house in, hung up, hunt, ill at ease, immured, impel, importune, impound, imprison, imprisoned, incarcerate, incarcerated, include, inconvenience, inconvenienced, infatuate, infest, infested, invade, invest, irk, irked, jail, jailed, jewel, kennel, lay siege to, leaguer, leaguered, lousy, mew, mew up, mewed, miff, molest, mortified, nag, nag at, needle, needled, nettle, nipped at, not let go, nudzh, obsess, oppress, out of countenance, overrun, overspread, overswarm, paled, pedicular, pediculous, peeve, pen, pen in, penned, pent-up, perplex, persecute, persecuted, perturb, perturbed, pester, pestered, pick on, picked on, pique, plague, plagued, pluck the beard, ply, pocket, possess, pother, preoccupy, press, pressure, provoke, pursue, push, put out, put to it, put-out, put-upon, puzzle, puzzled, quarantine, quarantined, ragged, rail in, railed, ratty, ravage, ravaged, restrained, ride, rile, ring, roil, ruffle, shrine, shut in, shut up, shut-in, soften up, sore beset, stable, storm, strike, surround, swarm, swarm with, tease, teased, teeming, torment, tormented, trouble, troubled, try the patience, tweak the nose, uncomfortable, uneasy, upset, urge, vex, vexed, victimize, wall in, walled, walled-in, wheedle, work on, wormy, worried, worried sick, worried stiff, worry, wrap, yard, yard up