Besiege — A Vocabulary Story
Teddy Bears Besiege a Fort
Oliver had made a terrible mistake. He'd told his little sister Esther that she couldn't join his blanket fort, and now he was paying the price.
"Surrender the fort!" Esther shouted from behind the sofa, brandishing her toy sword. Behind her stood an army of stuffed animals—twelve teddy bears, three rabbits, and a rather fierce-looking giraffe named Kevin.
Oliver peered through a gap in his blanket walls. His fort was magnificent: three chairs, two tables, and every pillow in the house. But he hadn't planned for this.
"Never!" he called back. "Fort Awesome will never fall!"
That's when Esther revealed her strategy. She didn't just have stuffed animals; she had Bruno, the family's enormously fluffy dog, who was already drooling at the thought of treats. She had positioned her forces at every entrance to besiege her brother's fort.
Besiege means to surround a place with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender.
Esther had clearly paid attention during their castle lessons at school.
"You're completely surrounded!" Esther announced dramatically. "I have troops at the north entrance by the TV, the south entrance near the radiator, and Bruno is blocking the escape route to the kitchen!"
Oliver's stomach rumbled. The kitchen. He hadn't thought about snacks.
"I have supplies that will last for days!" Oliver bluffed, knowing full well he only had three digestive biscuits.
"Really?" Esther grinned. "Because Mum just said she's making pizza for lunch, and it'll be ready in five minutes. But I suppose you'll just stay in there…"
Oliver's resolve crumbled faster than his digestive biscuits. Pizza. His favourite.
"Wait! I propose a treaty!" Oliver shouted. "You can join Fort Awesome! We'll be co-commanders!"
Esther considered this, then nodded. "Acceptable. But Kevin gets to be a general." Besieging the fort had been worth it.
Within minutes, the fort had expanded, the stuffed animal army had been stationed inside, and both children were planning their defence against their next enemy: bedtime.
Bruno, meanwhile, simply hoped someone would drop some pizza.
Word Definition
besiege
meaning
to surround a place with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender
synonyms
surround · encircle · blockade · beleaguer · trap
antonyms
liberate · release · free
example sentence
The army planned to besiege the city until it surrendered.