circle the/one's wagons

idiom

chiefly US, informal

: to gather a group of people together in order to protect them from being attacked

—usually used figuratively

Reporters tend to circle the wagons whenever the media are attacked for bias.

Examples of circle the/one's wagons in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Monday, as the Wednesday night negotiation deadline between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) drew nearer, union leadership began to circle the wagons. —Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

This was not a time to circle the wagons and protect those on the inside, foremost among them Green. —Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 Oct. 2022

Although the team has tried to circle the wagons and shut out the noise, the tumult was clearly weighing heavily on the players, making Tuesday’s move inevitable. —Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2023

So, the impulse is almost always to circle the wagons. —William Pesek, Forbes, 15 June 2021

Investors took the disruptions as an opportunity to regroup, circle the wagons and figure out the next steps. —Umesh Sachdev, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022

Amid this pandemic, vaccinations give those of us who are immunocompetent the chance to circle the wagons of our collective immunity around those whose immune systems no longer function normally. —The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Sep. 2021

On Monday evening, former President Donald J. Trump said the F.B.I. had searched his Palm Beach, Fla., home, a significant development that threatened to overshadow the news of the Senate deal and that gave already-energized Republicans a new cause to circle the wagons around Mr. Trump. —Katie Glueck, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2022

In Washington, Republicans continued to circle the wagons in defense of Mr. Trump. —Maggie Haberman, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023