Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Beset

Beset ({not transcribed}) , transitive verb

[Anglo-Saxon besettan (akin to Old High German bisazjan, German besetzen, Dutch bezetten); pref. be- + settan to set. See Set.]

1.
To set or stud (anything) with ornaments or prominent objects.
A robe of azure beset with drops of gold. — Spectator
The garden is so beset with all manner of sweet shrubs that it perfumes the air. — Evelyn
2.
To hem in; to waylay; to surround; to besiege; to blockade.
Beset with foes. — Milton
Let thy troops beset our gates. — Addison
3.
To set upon on all sides; to perplex; to harass; -- said of dangers, obstacles, etc.
Adam, sore beset, replied. — Milton
Beset with ills. — Addison
Incommodities which beset old age. — Burke
4.
To occupy; to employ; to use up. [Obsolete] — Chaucer