circle (redirected from circling the wagons)

bring someone full circle

come/go/turn full circle - if something or someone has come full circle after changing a lot, they are now the same as they were at the beginning. The poem brings us full circle, and leaves us with an image of the daffodils still dancing by the lake.

See also: bring, full

come/go/turn full circle

if something or someone has come full circle after changing a lot, they are now the same as they were at the beginning. My career has come full circle and I am back at the school where I started out as a teacher thirty years ago. In the meantime her opinions have gone full circle and she has decided to rejoin the party.

See also: come, full, turn

go around/round in circles

1. if you go round in circles when you are discussing something or trying to achieve something, you do not make any progress because you keep going back to the same subjects or the same problems.. I need some more data to work on, otherwise I'm just going round in circles. We can't go round in circles all day - someone will have to make a decision.

2. to use a lot of time and effort trying to do something, without making any progress. We spent the whole day running around in circles looking for a document which everyone thought was lost but which wasn't.

See also: around, round

square the circle

to find a good solution to a problem when that seems impossible, especially because the people involved have very different needs or opinions about it. Few poor countries can afford to look after their works of art properly, but neglect is unwise if you want to attract tourists. Thailand is attempting to square the circle.

See also: square

a vicious circle

a difficult situation that cannot be improved because one problem causes another problem that causes the first problem again. I get depressed so I eat and then I gain weight which depresses me so I eat again - I'm caught in a vicious circle.

The wheel has come/turned full circle.

something that you say which means a situation is the same now as it was before things started to change. The wheel had finally come full circle; we were together as a family again.

See also: come, full, has, turn, wheel

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circle the wagons

to stop communicating with people not in your group to avoid their ideas or beliefs. Americans are feeling it is an especially good time to spend time with family, to circle the wagons.

Etymology: based on the custom of bringing wagons (= vehicles pulled by horses) into a circle when they are being attacked

See also: wagon

come full circle

to return to the same situation or attitude you originally had. I left publishing, tried teaching, and now I've come full circle back to publishing.

Usage notes: also used in the form bring something full circle: The film starts in the present, then moves to the past before bringing the story full circle back to the present.

See also: come, full

go (around) in circles

to be very active but not achieve anything. His mind went in circles around the problem, but he couldn't seem to find a solution for it.

Usage notes: sometimes used in the form talk in circles speak a lot but without saying anything important: Every time the mayor speaks he seems to talk in circles.

around and around

round and round

go around and around

square the circle

to solve an unusually difficult problem. To get both sides to agree to anything at all meant we had to square the circle.

have it both ways

Etymology: from the problem in geometry (= a branch of mathematics) of constructing a square that is equal in area to a circle

See also: square