Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: French
Origin: rallier 'to reunite', from Old French alier; ALLY2

rally

2 verb
     
rally2 past tense and past participle rallied, present participle rallying, third person singular rallies
1 [intransitive and transitive] to come together, or to bring people together, to support an idea, a political party etc
rally to
Fellow Republicans rallied to the President's defense.
rally to do something
Surely the local business community could have rallied to raise the cash.
an attempt to rally support for the party
2 [intransitive] to become stronger again after a period of weakness or defeat [↪ recover]:
After a shaky start, he rallied and won the title in style.
The Tokyo stock market rallied later in the day.

rally around (somebody)

phrasal verb
if a group of people rally round, they all try to help you when you are in a difficult situation:
Her friends all rallied round when she was ill.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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