rally
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Related to rally: Rally racing
rally around
To unite or join with someone or something to lend support or assistance. The local community has rallied around the family after it emerged that they were unable to pay their son's medical expenses. Our campaign will only be successful if enough people rally around and help spread and support our cause.
rally round
To unite or join with someone or something to lend support or assistance. The local community has rallied round the family after it emerged that they were unable to pay their son's medical expenses. Our campaign will only be successful if enough people rally round and help spread and support our cause.
rally round the flag
To show increased support or solidarity for one's government or country, especially during times of war or strife. "Round" is sometimes spelled with an apostrophe, especially in American English, to indicate a shortening of "around." There has been a huge surge in support for the prime minister as people from across the political spectrum rallied round the flag following the attack. A wartime president's reelection is usually all but guaranteed, as people tend to rally 'round the flag during war.
rally the troops
To call others together to join with or lend support to someone or something. An allusion to reassembling dispersed soldiers ("troops"). Usually used as an imperative. We need some more help with this mailing campaign. Go around the office and rally the troops for some good ol' fashioned envelope stuffing.
rally to (someone or something)
1. To unite or join with someone or something to lend support or assistance. The local community has rallied to the family after it emerged that they were unable to pay their son's medical expenses. It has been extraordinary seeing people rally to the movement with such enthusiasm.
2. To cause, compel, or incite someone to unite or join with someone or something else to lend support or assistance. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "rally" and "to." We've been canvassing neighborhoods around the county in an effort to rally people to our cause. A group of fans has been trying to rally people to the actor following the scandalous allegations against him.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
rally around someone or something
Fig. to unite or assemble in support of someone or something. All the other workers rallied around Fred in his fight with management. They rallied around the principle that Fred stood for.
rally to someone or something
to unite in support of someone or something. The students rallied to Betty, their elected president. We all rallied to the cause.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
pep someone up
Invigorate someone or cheer someone up, as in This drink will pep you up, or The good news about his recovery pepped us up. [1920s] Both the verb pep and the noun pep, denoting vigor and energy since about 1910, are abbreviations for pepper, a spice with a pungent, biting quality. They also have given rise to pep rally, a meeting to inspire enthusiasm [c. 1940], and pep talk, a speech meant to instill enthusiasm or bolster morale [1920s].
rally around
Join in a common effort, as in When Mom broke her leg the entire family rallied around to help. This idiom gained currency with George F. Root's famous Civil War song, "The Battle Cry of Freedom," which urges troops to rally round the flag that goes with them into battle. [Early 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
rally
(ˈræli)1. n. get-together of some kind; a party, usually informal, possibly spontaneous. There’s a rally over at Tom’s tonight.
2. in. to hold a get-together of some kind; to party. (Collegiate.) Let’s rally tonight about midnight.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
rally 'round the flag
Support a candidate, cause, or country. The phrase was ascribed to General Andrew Jackson at the battle of New Orleans but soon came to be used in American politics for supporting a campaign. It entered the vocabulary once and for all with George F. Root’s Civil War song “The Battle Cry of Freedom”: “Rally ’round the flag, boys, Rally once again, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer