The usual way to limit analog meter movements is with a pair of diodes parallel to the movement (possibly with some of the series resistance). Normally there is some series resistor anyway to set the voltage range - this may need to be high enough power rating. If critical one could include a PTC or other current limiting, but this is not standard.
The normal meter movements can tolerate quite a bit more than full scale current. So even if made for some 100 µA and 0.1 V it can very well survive 1 mA/1V and possibly even10 mA (and still only 100 mW).
For AC movements things can get a little more complicated, as moving iron movements (often nonlinear scale) tend to use more power and thus may not have as much head room for overload. The idea is still the same: limit the voltage with something like diodes and limit the current through the diode with a resistor, PTC or if need electronic (e.g. 2 depletion mode MOSFETs).