This is the 8651st most frequent French word.
assiégée
Besieged.
Here, 'assiégée' is used as an adjective describing the city, indicating it is under siege or surrounded by enemies.
La ville assiégée résistait avec courage.
The besieged city resisted courageously.
In this sentence, 'assiégée' describes a metaphorical sense of being overwhelmed or surrounded by issues.
Elle se sentait assiégée par ses problèmes quotidiens.
She felt besieged by her daily problems.
'Assiégeaient' here is the verb form referring to the act of surrounding and attacking a location.