to man the fort
- idiom
- Informal
:
defender
- When the manager stepped out for lunch, the staff agreed to man the fort until she returned.
Examples
-
Giles and I will man the fort.
-
While the team was on vacation, we decided to man the fort and ensure everything ran smoothly.
-
During the emergency, the volunteers had to man the fort at the shelter and keep things organized.
Synonyms
19
4.5
Take care of a place or job while someone is away
2
3.9
To manage and take care of something for someone or an organization
Antonyms
How Responsible
98
3.5
- Informal
115
3.5
472
1.1
- Informal
486
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meaning 'to staff or guard a fort' is directly derivable from 'man' (to staff) + 'fort' (fortified place), so a learner who knows the constituents can understand the concrete sense. However, the common extended sense 'take responsibility for a situation/place (especially in someone’s absence)' is a metaphorical generalization from the literal image and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the item is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase man the fort comes from soldiers who stayed to guard a fort: to man meant to put people on the walls or at the gates to watch and protect the fort. So today it means 'to take responsibility for a place or situation while someone else is away'.