[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That besets; esp. in the expression besetting sin, and the like, in allusion to Heb. xii. 1.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, II. 69. Retaining still … their old besetting sin.
1860. Trench, Serm. Westm. Ab., xiii. 144. We have every one of us besetting sins … sins, that is, which more easily get advantage over us than others.
1868. M. Pattison, Academ. Org., § 5. 210. The besetting danger of endowments—mental stagnation and apathy.
