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to rally the crowd

to rally the crowd

1 4.2
To bring people together and make them want to act
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈræli ðə kraʊd/
translation icon : animar a la multitud
  • The coach inspired the players by encouraging them to rally the crowd during the championship game.

Examples

  • She's really into it, enjoying herself as they all rally the crowd.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Most disturbing, he didn't rally the crowd before the jump ball like he has been doing for years.

    Blog text (14)
  • Before former Gov. Charlie Crist rallied the crowd at President Barack Obama's final Florida rally on Sunday, he made a guest appearance on CBS4's Facing South Florida with Jim Defede and did some politicking of his own.

    Blog text (2)
  • At the protest, the speaker's passionate words helped rally the crowd to demand change.

  • The director's speech was designed to rally the crowd, igniting their enthusiasm for the campaign.

Synonyms

to get together
vsto rally the crowd
  • Informal
118 2.8

To bring people together for a meeting or activity

seeks to inspire or motivate the group, not just arrange a meeting
to bring everyone together
vsto rally the crowd
3 3.4

To make a group feel part of the same community

adds motivating people toward action or excitement rather than only uniting them
to galvanize support
vsto rally the crowd
1 5.8

To make people excited and ready to help a cause

aims more at uniting and prompting group action rather than gaining support
galvanizing
vsto rally the crowd
1 6.8

Causing people to become suddenly excited and ready to act

leans more toward gathering and driving group action than sudden intensity
rallying
vsto rally the crowd
4.7

Uniting people to inspire them to act for a cause

focuses more on pushing a group toward action or excitement
to get a crowd going
vsto rally the crowd
  • Informal
4.8

Make an audience feel excited and cheer

focuses more on uniting people and prompting action rather than just excitement
to bring to someone's feet
vsto rally the crowd
6.7

To cause a group of people to stand and clap to show approval

aims to inspire group action and unity rather than provoke a physical reaction

Antonyms

104 4.4

To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area

43 3.9

To slowly disappear or become less clear

How Motivating

to incite
  • NSFW
72 7.7
to rally the crowd
1 4.2
to get a crowd going
  • Informal
4.8

Surface Forms

rally the crowd infinitive
rallied the crowd past participle
rallying the crowd present participle
rallies the crowd third person singular

Morphology

rally + the + crowd

The verb 'rally' already carries the senses 'assemble supporters' or 'bring together,' and combined with 'crowd' (a large group of people) the meaning 'bring people together and motivate them' is directly compositional. This follows a straightforward verb + object pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Rally the crowd paints the picture of a leader calling people together, like a captain who rallies troops so the crowd gathers and gets excited. So, to rally the crowd today means 'to bring people together and inspire or motivate them to act'.