“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
Henry Fielding. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)
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I met two huge Animals, one of which stopt before me, and the other fled swiftly to its Den; for so I thought at least; because that some time after, I perceived it come back again in company of above Seven or Eight hundred of the same kind, who beset me.
Cyrano de Bergerac. A Voyage to the Moon
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The bigwigs, the most respected members of the club, beset the new arrivals.
Leo Tolstoy. War and Peace.
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Buck was beset by three huskies, and in a trice his head and shoulders were ripped and slashed.