What does beset mean?

Definitions for beset
bɪˈsɛtbe·set

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word beset.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provokeverb

    annoy continually or chronically

    "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"

  2. beset, set uponverb

    assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"

  3. encrust, incrust, besetverb

    decorate or cover lavishly (as with gems)

Wiktionary

  1. besetverb

    To surround or hem in

  2. besetverb

    To attack, especially from all sides

  3. besetverb

    To decorate something with jewels etc

  4. besetverb

    Of a ship, to get trapped by ice

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Besetverb

    pret. I beset; I have beset.

    Etymology: besittan , Sax.

    Follow him that’s fled;
    The thicket is beset, he cannot ’scape. William Shakespeare, T. G. of Ver.

    Now, Cæsar, let thy troops beset our gates,
    And barr each avenue ————
    Cato shall open to himself a passage. Joseph Addison, Cato.

    I know thou look’st on me, as on a wretch
    Beset with ills, and cover’d with misfortunes. Joseph Addison, Cato.

    Now, daughter Sylvia, you are hard beset. William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

    Thus Adam, sore beset, reply’d. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. x.

    Sure, or I read her visage much amiss,
    Or grief besets her hard. Nicholas Rowe, Jane Shore.

    We be in this world beset with sundry uneasinesses, distracted with different desires. John Locke.

    Draw forth thy weapon; we’re beset with thieves;
    Rescue thy mistress. William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew.

    The only righteous in a world perverse,
    And therefore hated, therefore so beset
    With foes, for daring single to be just. Paradise Lost, b. xi.

    True fortitude I take to be the quiet possession of a man’s self, and an undisturbed doing his duty, whatever evil besets, or danger lies in his way. John Locke.

    But they him spying, both with greedy force
    At once upon him ran, and him beset
    With strokes of mortal steel. Fairy Queen, b. ii. cant. ii.

Wikipedia

  1. beset

    Bes (; also spelled as Bisu, Coptic: Ⲃⲏⲥ), together with his feminine counterpart Beset, is an ancient Egyptian deity worshipped as a protector of households and, in particular, of mothers, children, and childbirth. Bes later came to be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad. Bes may have been a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia or Somalia, and his cult did not become widespread until the beginning of the New Kingdom. Worship of Bes spread as far north as the area of Syria and as far west as the Balearic Islands (Ibiza) in Spain, and later into the Roman and Achaemenid Empires.

ChatGPT

  1. beset

    Beset generally refers to being surrounded or afflicted with difficulties, problems, or threats from all sides. It can mean to assail, attack, or harass persistently. It can also signify being covered or set with. The term can refer to a multitude of situations, whether physical, like a city being beset by enemy forces, or psychological, like being beset by fears.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Beset

    of Beset

  2. Besetverb

    to set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects

  3. Besetverb

    to hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade

  4. Besetverb

    to set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc

  5. Besetverb

    to occupy; to employ; to use up

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Beset

    be-set′, v.t. to surround or set round with anything (now only in pa.p.): to surround with hostile intentions, to besiege: to occupy so as to allow none to go out or in: to assail, perplex, endanger, as by temptations, obstacles, &c.:—pr.p. beset′ting; pa.t. and pa.p. beset′.—ns. Beset′ment; Beset′ter.—p.adj. Beset′ting, that besets, as in 'besetting sin.'

Matched Categories

Anagrams for beset »

  1. beest

  2. beets

How to pronounce beset?

How to say beset in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of beset in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of beset in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of beset in a Sentence

  1. Andy Sullivan:

    The market has been beset with worries and actually things are not so bad, although the start of the Q3 results have been messy, there are enough positive signs on earnings growth to keep markets positive. The world is not ending, things are more or less on track.

  2. Henry Miller:

    What we all hope in reaching for a book, is to meet a man of our own heart, to experience tragedies and delights which we ourselves lack the courage to invite, to dream dreams which will render life more hallucinating, perhaps also to discover a philosophy of life which will make us more adequate in meeting the trials and ordeals which beset us. To merely add to our store of knowledge or improve our culture, whatever that may mean, seems worthless to me.

  3. Julian Emanuel:

    When you look at the first five months of the year it has been an emotional roller coaster that has been beset with investor cognitive errors, most glaring of which was discounting the recession that never happened in January and February.

  4. Chris Williamson:

    A manufacturing sector beset with supply chain delays saw production growth falter to the lowest [ level ] since the first lockdowns of last year, the services sector has meanwhile seen some of the summer rebound fade just as resurgent virus case numbers bring renewed concerns.

  5. RJ Intindola:

    When beset with doubt in troubled times, and those about you will understand if you come unglued, stay the ground and face the challenge. Fore when you stand alone to confront life's highest mountains, the next shall be easier to climb.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

beset#10000#46693#100000

Translations for beset

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"beset." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/beset>.

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