kwĩgitĩra

v.

1. to defend oneself. To defend oneself, to take refuge. To protect oneself or seek shelter; used especially of fortifications or strongholds where people seek safety.

Example: ikĩũragwo, no icio ingĩ igĩthiĩ kwĩhitha nyũmbainĩ cia kwĩgitĩra Jerusalemu. (About five hundred men of Nicanor’s army fell; the rest fled to the City of David. City of David : the citadel occupied by the Seleucid garrison in Jerusalem.); Nao ageni oothe arĩa maatũũraga manyũmbainĩ ma hinya ma kwĩgitĩra marĩa Bakide aakithĩĩtie makĩũra oothe; (The foreigners in the strongholds that Bacchides had built took flight;)