0 the small group of people who control an organization, political party, etc.:
Dr Simpson was a member of the inner circle of government officials.
This did not alter the fact that the devil's henchmen (witches, hares and cats) also operated in the inner circle to plague people there.
The massive destruction of old sacred monuments can be better conceived as a ritual purification of the inner circle of unchristian, pagan elements.
More critically, however, status was a very good indicator of activity and inner circle size.
The change was sudden and unexpected outside the program's inner circle.
The outer band shows 'specialist' activities in each of the original four quadrants, and the inner circle shows corresponding 'generalist' opportunities.
The probability of beetles being recaptured in the inner circle was higher than in the outer circles because of the higher trap density.
It also appears that within the dozen there existed an inner circle whose influence was greater than that of the rest.
The role of court activity in revealing and probably establishing inner circle size is clear.