Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-SEEM'ING-NESS, n.

Quality of being beseeming.

BE-SEEM'LY, a.

Becoming; fit; suitable.

BE-SEEN', a.

Adapted; adjusted. [Not used.] – Spenser.

BE-SET', v.t. [pret. and pp. beset. Sax. besettan, to place, of be and settan, to set; D. bezetten; Ger. besetzen. See Set.]

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. – Milton.
3. To waylay. – Shak.
4. To fall upon. – Spenser.

BE-SET'TING, a.

Habitually attending, or pressing; as, a besetting sin.

BE-SET'TING, ppr.

Surrounding; besieging; waylaying.

BE-SHINE', v.t.

To shine upon. [Not used.]

BE-SHREW', v.t. [be and shrew.]

1. To wish a curse to; to execrate. – Dryden.
2. To happen ill to. [Not in use.] – Shak.

BE-SHROUD'ED, a.

Shrouded.

BE-SHUT', v.t.

To shut up. [Not used.] – Chaucer.

BE-SIDE', prep. [be and side, by the side.]

1. At the side of a person or thing; near; as, sit down beside me, or beside the stream.
2. Over and above; distinct from. Beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed. – Luke xvi.
3. On one side; out of the regular course or order; not according to, but not contrary. It is beside my present business to enlarge upon this speculation. – Locke.
4. Out of; in a state deviating from; as, to put one beside his patience. Hence,
5. With the reciprocal pronoun, beside one's self is out of the wits or senses; out of the order of reason, or of rational beings. Paul, thou art beside thyself. – Acts xxvi.

BE-SID'ER-Y, n.

A species of pear. – Johnson.

BE-SIDES', or BE-SIDE', adv.

Moreover; more than that; over and above; distinct from; not included in the number, or in what has been mentioned. Besides, you know not what is the fate of your friend. / The men said to Lot, Hast thou here any besides? – Gen. xix. To all beside, as much an empty shade, / An Eugene living, as a Cesar dead. – Pope. These sentences may be considered as elliptical.

BE-SIDES', prep.

Over and above; separate or distinct from. And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine. – Gen. xxvii. Note. This word, though radically the same as beside, and a corruption of it, ought not to be confounded with it, for it is never used in the senses explained under beside, except in the second.

BE-SIEGE', v.t. [be and siege; Fr. siege, and assieger, to besiege. See Siege.]

1. To lay siege to; to beleaguer; to beset, or surround with armed forces, for the purpose of compelling to surrender, either by famine or by violent attacks; as, to besiege a castle or city.
2. To beset; to throng round.

BE-SIEG'ED, pp.

Surrounded or beset with hostile troop.

BE-SIEGE'MENT, n.

Act of besieging; state of being besieged.

BE-SIEG'ER, n.

One who lays siege, or is employed in a siege.

BE-SIEG'ING, a.

Surrounding in a hostile manner; employed in a siege; as, a besieging army.

BE-SIEG'ING, ppr.

Laying siege; surrounding with armed forces.

BE-SIEG'ING-LY, adv.

In a besieging manner.

BE-SIT', v.t. [be and sit.]

To suit; to become. [Not used.] – Spenser.

BE-SLAVE', v.t.

To subjugate; to enslave. [Not used.] – Bp. Hall.

BE-SLAV'ER, v.t.

To defile with slaver.

BE-SLAV'ER-ED, pp.

Defiled with slaver. – Heber.