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Glite Dictionary
to circle the wagons

to circle the wagons

8 8.8
Join together to protect each other from outside criticism
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : unirse
  • And when those values were threatened, they circled the wagons in defense.
  • Let's circle the wagons
  • going to circle the wagons
  • circle the wagons and protect

And and the FDA had sort of circled the wagons and people didn't want to to stick their necks out for fear that they might get their heads chopped off.

Examples

  • Circle the wagons if you want.

    Man of the House (2005)

  • When the project faced criticism, the developers quickly circled the wagons to defend their work.

  • It's "time to circle the wagons."

    Blog text (28)

  • - Let's circle the wagons, okay?

    The Sentinel (2006)

  • Collectively, we've had to circle the wagons and defend, defend, defend.

    Blog text (17)

  • Unfortunately, they circled the wagons and defended the indefensible.

    Blog text (8)

  • If nothing else, this million-comment post has compelled all of the left-minded people to circle the wagons.

    Blog text (3)

  • One of Coach Carlisle's favorite go-tos when things aren't working is that they need to "circle the wagons."

    Blog text (29)

  • So Tony, Gilbert, Danny, and I smoothed out our old antipathies and circled the wagons.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Right now the administration is circling the wagons, accidentally burning evidence and inadvertently deleting emails.

    Blog text (12)

Synonyms

to stand together
vsto circle the wagons
33 3.4

To join others to support the same cause

focuses on defending against external criticism or threats rather than general solidarity
to rally around
vsto circle the wagons
30 4.1

To come together to support someone in a hard time

is about uniting to defend against outside criticism rather than just giving support
to close ranks
vsto circle the wagons
9 4.4

Come together to support each other in hard times

emphasizes defending against outside criticism or threats rather than mutual support
to hang together
vsto circle the wagons
2 4.1

To stay united and help each other in hard times

is used for uniting specifically to defend against outside criticism or threats
to rally round the flag
vsto circle the wagons
1 7.4

To come together to show strong support for a leader or the country in danger

is specifically about uniting defensively against outside criticism or threats
to fight one's corner
vsto circle the wagons
  • UK
7.0

Defend your ideas or what you want when others disagree

focuses on group defense against outside criticism or threats rather than individual defense

Antonyms

to isolate
256 4.2

To keep someone or something apart from others

to disband
43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

How Defensive

to circle the wagons
  • Informal
8 8.8

Surface Forms

circle the wagons infinitive
circled the wagons past
circled the wagons past participle
circling the wagons present participle
circles the wagons third person singular

Morphology

circle + the + waggon

The literal image of 'circle' + 'wagons' evokes arranging wagons in a protective ring, so a learner who knows the words can infer a defensive or protective action; however the extended, social meaning of 'uniting against outside criticism or threats' is a culturally specific metaphor that is not fully predictable from the parts. Because the phrase relies on historical/pragmatic knowledge and functions as a social metaphor, it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Circle the wagons comes from old stories of people in the American West who would literally circle their wagons to make a rough wall against attackers. So, circle the wagons now means 'to unite in defense or protection' when a group faces outside criticism or threats.