Chapter Sidereous to Sight of S by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

5. The sitting of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling the garrison to surrender; the surrounding or investing of a place by an army, and approaching it by passages and advanced works, which cover the besiegers from the enemy's fire. See the Note under Blockade.

6. Hence, a continued attempt to gain possession.

Love stood the siege, and would not yield his breast.

Dryden.

7. The floor of a glass-furnace.

8. A workman's bench. Knught.

Siege gun, a heavy gun for siege operations. — Siege train, artillery adapted for attacking fortified places.

Siege
(Siege), v. t. To besiege; to beset. [R.]

Through all the dangers that can siege
The life of man.

Buron.

Siegework
(Siege"work`) n. A temporary fort or parallel where siege guns are mounted.

Siemens-Martin process
(Sie"mens-Mar`tin proc"ess) See Open-hearth process, etc., under Open.

Sienite
(Si"e*nite) n. (Min.) See Syenite.

Sienitic
(Si`e*nit"ic) a. See Syenitic.

Sienna
(Si*en"na) n. [It. terra di Siena, fr. Siena in Italy.] (Chem.) Clay that is colored red or brown by the oxides of iron or manganese, and used as a pigment. It is used either in the raw state or burnt.

Burnt sienna, sienna made of a much redder color by the action of fire. — Raw sienna, sienna in its natural state, of a transparent yellowish brown color.

Siennese
(Si`en*nese") a. Of or pertaining to Sienna, a city of Italy.

Sierra
(||Si*er"ra) n. [Sp., properly, a saw, fr. L. serra a saw. See Serrate.] A ridge of mountain and craggy rocks, with a serrated or irregular outline; as, the Sierra Nevada.

The wild sierra overhead.

Whitter.

Siesta
(||Si*es"ta) n. [Sp., probably fr. L. sessitare to sit much or long, v. freq. of sedere, sessum, to sit. See Sit.] A short sleep taken about the middle of the day, or after dinner; a midday nap.

Sieur
(||Sieur) n. [F., abbrev. from seigneur. Cf. Monsieur, Seignior.] Sir; — a title of respect used by the French.

Sieva
(Sie"va) n. (Bot.) A small variety of the Lima bean

Sieve
(Sieve) n. [OE. sive, AS. sife; akin to D. zeef, zift, OHG. sib, G. sieb. &radic151a. Cf. Sift.]

1. A utensil for separating the finer and coarser parts of a pulverized or granulated substance from each other. It consist of a vessel, usually shallow, with the bottom perforated, or made of hair, wire, or the like, woven in meshes. "In a sieve thrown and sifted." Chaucer.

2. A kind of coarse basket. Simmonds.

Sieve cells (Bot.), cribriform cells. See under Cribriform.