beset
verbUK /bɪˈsɛt/ · US /bəˈsɛt/
Etymology
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”)
14 senses
- 1To assail or attack (someone) from all sides; to set about.
- 2To occupy and block (an entrance, a passage, etc.)…
- 3To decorate (someone or something) by surrounding with…
- 4Followed by with: to encircle or surround (someone or…
- 5To trap (a ship) within frozen sea; to ice in.
- 6Of dangers, difficulties, enemies, etc.: to negatively…
- 7Of soldiers, etc.: to surround (a place) to compel…
- 8To capture (an animal); to ensnare, to entrap.
- 9To arrange or set (something) in order.
- 10To give (something); to bestow, to present.
- 11To spend or use (something, such as effort, money, time…
- 12Followed by on or upon: to place or set (love, trust…
- 13To be appropriate or fitting for (something); to become…
- 14Followed by with: to accord or go well with something.
› Senses relating to surrounding.
To assail or attack (someone) from all sides; to set about.
Literal or figurative
- He that hath read Seneca or Boethius, is well provided against any ordinary misfortune; and to have by heart the story of Argalus and Parthenia; the dolorous madrigals of old Plangus in the Arcadia; or the history of Pyramus and Thisbe, is a never failing remedy for the mubble-fubbles: For to be acquainted with sadness, besets familiarity, and familiars never kill one another, unless the devil is in them.1654, Edmund Gayton, Festivous notes on the history and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote:
- “Nay, for matter o’ that, he never doth any mischief,” said the woman; “but to be sure it is necessary he should keep some arms for his own safety; for his house hath been beset more than once; and it is not many nights ago that we thought we heard thieves about it […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
2 more examples
- It may be but an idle whim, but it has always seemed to me, that the extraordinary vacillations of movement displayed by some whales when beset by three or four boats; the timidity and liability to queer frights, so common to such whales; I think that all this indirectly proceeds from the helpless perplexity of volition, in which their divided and diametrically opposite powers of vision must involve them.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Sperm Whale’s Head”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 369:
- As agricultural regulatory officials, we are interested in all of the problems that beset agriculture, regardless of their nature. We are interested in the promotion and development of more adequate scientific and economic research for agriculture.1929, G.H. Hecke, “Stopping the Leaks: Agricultural Cooperation, Both State and National”, in Monthly Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, State of California, volume 18, California Department of Agriculture, page 601:
To occupy and block (an entrance, a passage, etc.), especially to prevent people from passing.
To decorate (someone or something) by surrounding with accessories, etc.
Chiefly passive voice
Archaic Followed by with: to encircle or surround (someone or something); to hem in.
- For thou, deere Lord, thou me besett'st; / Thy rodd and thy staff be / To comfort me: […]a. 1587 (date written), Philip Sidney, “Psalm XXIII. Dominus regit me.”, in The Psalmes of David […], London: From the Chiswick Press by C[harles] Whittingham, for Robert Triphook, […], published 1823, →OCLC, page 37:
- Thou me beſetſt behind, before, / and laidſt thine hand on me, / Such knovvledge is for me too ſtrange, / it to attain's^([sic – meaning attainest]) too hie [high].1648, Zachary Boyd, “Psal[m] CXXXIX. [Verse 5.]”, in The Psalmes of David in Meeter: With the Prose Interlined, Glasgow: […] [T]he heires of George Anderson, →OCLC, signature Y2, recto:
2 more examples
- It was a handsome old stucco hall, very elegantly appointed, for Winter was a bachelor and prided himself on his style; but the place was beset by collieries.1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter X, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC, page 151:
- Vegetatively it is the nearest to H. translucens with its oblong-lanceolate leaves, with the margins and keel beset with pellucid teeth, but it differs and is characterised by the greyish-black quadrantly positioned globose flowers; […]1985, Charles L. Scott, The Genus Haworthia (Liliaceae): A Taxonomic Revision, page 80:
› Senses relating to surrounding. › Followed by with: to encircle or surround…
› Senses relating to surrounding.
Figuratively Of dangers, difficulties, enemies, etc.: to negatively affect (someone or something); to trouble.
- Fred Brentnall, in his squeaky lorikeet voice reads to the House Lawson's last two stanzas, just to highlight the danger besetting the colony of Queensland, indeed, the whole country:[…]2006, Pip Wilson, “If Blood should Stain the Wattle”, in Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, 3rd edition, Coffs Harbour, N.S.W.: [Pip Wilson], published January 2007, →ISBN, page 147:
- Some of Grimsby's other (extraordinarily up-to-date) targets include Donald Trump and Daniel Radcliffe, whose fates here are too breath-catchingly cruel to spoil, and also the admirably game Strong, whose character is beset by a constant stream of humiliations that hit with the force of a jet of … well, you'll see.2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ‘Sacha Baron Cohen’s vital, venomous action movie’”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Nov 2019:
2 more examples
- Track and platforms have been upgraded, but refurbished trains from Vivarail have been beset by software problems.2021 July 28, Paul Clifton, “£67 million Isle of Wight Line Extension Submitted to DfT [Department for Transport]”, in Rail, number 936, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21:
- In commercial after commercial, humans are oblivious, enfeebled, barely functioning idiots beset by more tasks, stimuli and demands on their time than anyone could reasonably handle.2025 June 25, Ismail Muhammad, “Why Does Every Commercial for A.I. Think You’re a Moron?”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Oct 2025:
Government, Military, Politics, War Archaic, Often Of soldiers, etc.: to surround (a place) to compel surrender; to besiege.
Obsolete To capture (an animal); to ensnare, to entrap.
› Senses relating to placing or setting.
Obsolete To arrange or set (something) in order.
Obsolete To give (something); to bestow, to present.
Obsolete To spend or use (something, such as effort, money, time, or words).
Obsolete Followed by on or upon: to place or set (love, trust, etc.) on someone.
› Senses relating to being appropriate.
Obsolete To be appropriate or fitting for (something); to become, to befit.
Obsolete Followed by with: to accord or go well with something.
- Antonyms
- unbeset