From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishharasshar‧ass /ˈhærəs, həˈræs/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 PROBLEMto make someone’s life unpleasant, for example by frequently saying offensive things to them or threatening them A number of black youths have complained of being harassed by the police.sexually/racially harass somebody (=harass someone because of their sex or race) One woman claimed that she had been sexually harassed by a male manager.2 ATTACKto keep attacking an enemy again and again→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
harass• Moreover, Max is being harassed at school by a gang of thugs, carefully drawn as a multiethnic crew.• Black teenagers are being constantly harassed by the police.• The Rover closed right up, blatantly harassing him into making one mistake that would give them the excuse to stop him.• Billing agencies harass poor people for the payment of the bills for purchases that might have taken place six months before.• As a result Beaumaris have raised their current points total to 53 as they harass the leaders Llanfairpwll who are on 54.• Over the following weeks, Portadown loyalists harassed the police in retaliation for what they claimed was police persecution.• The enemy did not harass us much while we were constructing our batteries.• Or stroll up to one of the distinctive sentry boxes, aligned so defenders could harass would-be invaders with a withering cross-fire.Origin harass (1600-1700) French harasser, from harer “to set a dog on” 