asaetear

A literary and historical verb meaning to shoot with arrows — asaetear a alguien — most familiar today from depictions of martyrs killed this way. Figuratively, it also means to bombard someone relentlessly, especially with questions (asaetear a preguntas).

• Los soldados asaetearon al fugitivo antes de que escapara. — The soldiers shot the fugitive with arrows before he could escape.
• Los periodistas lo asaetearon a preguntas tras el anuncio. — The journalists bombarded him with questions after the announcement.
• En el cuadro, el santo aparece asaeteado y atado a un árbol. — In the painting, the saint appears shot through with arrows and tied to a tree.

Missing the figurative, everyday sense — asaetear a preguntas ("to bombard with questions") is common in journalism, even though most learners only encounter the verb in its literal, archaic sense of shooting arrows.

• expression Martirio de San Sebastián — San Sebastián is the saint most commonly depicted in Spanish and European religious art as asaeteado (shot through with arrows) — historical accounts describe him surviving an execution by archers before being clubbed to death, and this asaeteado imagery is the standard shorthand for his martyrdom across centuries of painting.