beset
/bəˈsɛt/ verb C2- To assail or attack (someone) from all sides; to set about.
- 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.
- Of dangers, difficulties, enemies, etc.: to negatively affect (someone or something); to trouble.
Plural beset · He/she/it besets · Past beset · Past participle beset · -ing form besetting
Verb forms
- Base form
- beset
- He/she/it
- besets
- Past
- beset
- Past participle
- beset
- -ing form
- besetting
An irregular verb: learn its past and past participle by heart.
From the library
But then, Diana, even ministers are human and have their besetting sins just like everybody else.
Allan about besetting sins last Sunday afternoon.
My besetting sin is imagining too much and forgetting my duties.
Everyone, from the highest to the lowest degree, has his place on the social ladder, and is beset by stormy passions and conflicting interests, as in Descartes’ theory of pressure and impulsion.
Learn beset in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.