crowd

¹ American  

[kroud] / kraʊd /

noun

1. a large number of persons gathered closely together; throng.

   a crowd of angry people.

2. any large number of persons.

3. any group or set of persons with something in common.

   The restaurant attracts a theater crowd.

4. audience; attendance.

   Opening night drew a good crowd.

5. the common people; the masses.

   He feels superior to the crowd.

   Synonyms:

   populace, plebeians, proletariat

6. a large number of things gathered or considered together.

7. Sociology. a temporary gathering of people responding to common stimuli and engaged in any of various forms of collective behavior.

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verb (used without object)

• crowds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crowded,
  past participle,  past
• crowding
  present participle

1. to gather in large numbers; throng; swarm.

   Synonyms:

   thrust, drive, herd, assemble

2. to press forward; advance by pushing.

verb (used with object)

• crowds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crowded,
  past participle,  past
• crowding
  present participle

1. to press closely together; force into a confined space; cram.

   to crowd clothes into a suitcase.

2. to push; shove.

3. to fill to excess; fill by pressing or thronging into.

4. to place under pressure or stress by constant solicitation.

   to crowd a debtor for payment; to crowd someone with embarrassing questions.

idioms

1. crowd on sail, to carry a press of sail.

crowd ² American  

[kroud] / kraʊd /

Also crwth

noun

Music.

1. an ancient Celtic musical instrument with the strings stretched over a rectangular frame, played with a bow.

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crowd ¹ British  

/ kraʊd /

noun

1. a large number of things or people gathered or considered together

2. a particular group of people, esp considered as a social or business set

   the crowd from the office

3. 1. the common people; the masses

   2. ( as modifier )

      crowd ideas

4. to conform with the majority

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verb

1. (intr) to gather together in large numbers; throng

2. (tr) to press together into a confined space

3. (tr) to fill to excess; fill by pushing into

4. informal (tr) to urge or harass by urging

5. nautical to hoist as much sail as possible

crowd ² British  

/ kraʊd /

noun

1. music an ancient bowed stringed instrument; crwth

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crowd More Idioms  

1. see follow the crowd; three's a crowd.

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Usage

What is a basic definition of crowd? A crowd is a large group of people or an audience. Crowd also means to cram closely together. Crowd has several other senses as a noun and a verb. The word crowd can be used to describe any large group of people. Often, crowd is used to specifically mean that the people are standing close together. If a location has a large number of people in a small area, it is said to be crowded.

• Real-life examples: A protest often involves a crowd of angry people. Crowds are often broken up when they get too large and unruly. You are very likely to see huge crowds in large cities like Los Angeles or in popular amusement parks like Disney World.
• Used in a sentence: My sister got lost in the crowd of businesspeople boarding the subway car. 

In this sense, crowd is used as a verb to mean to gather together in large numbers.

• Used in a sentence: We crowded around the trained monkey to watch it dance. 

Crowd is also used to mean an audience, even if not many people are in the audience.

• Real-life examples: Musicians, circus performers, actors, and comedians perform in front of a crowd. Politicians often give speeches to a crowd. Every producer wants to attract a large crowd to a show so they make more money.
• Used in a sentence: She received a standing ovation from the crowd. 

Crowd can also specifically mean a group of people who have something in common.

• Used in a sentence: I don’t really fit in with this artsy crowd. 

As a verb, crowd means to pack or cram closely together in a tight space.

• Used in a sentence: Twelve clowns crowded into the tiny car.

Synonym Usage

Crowd, multitude, swarm, throng refer to large numbers of people. Crowd suggests a jostling, uncomfortable, and possibly disorderly company: A crowd gathered to listen to the speech. Multitude emphasizes the great number of persons or things but suggests that there is space enough for all: a multitude of people at the market on Saturdays. Swarm as used of people is usually contemptuous, suggesting a moving, restless, often noisy, crowd: A swarm of dirty children played in the street. Throng suggests a company that presses together or forward, often with some common aim: The throng pushed forward to see the cause of the excitement.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crowdedness
  noun
• crowder
  noun
• crowded
  adjective
• crowdedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• crowding
  present
• crowded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crowd
  simple
• crowds
  simple
• have crowded
  perfect
• has crowded
  perfect
• am crowding
  progressive
• are crowding
  progressive
• is crowding
  progressive
• have been crowding
  perfect progressive
• has been crowding
  perfect progressive

Past

• crowded
  simple
• had crowded
  perfect
• was crowding
  progressive
• were crowding
  progressive
• had been crowding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crowd
  simple
• will have crowded
  perfect
• will be crowding
  progressive
• will have been crowding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of crowd¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English verb crouden, cruden, croden, Old English crūdan, crēodan “to press, hurry”; cognate with Middle Dutch crūden “to push,” Middle Low German krūden to annoy”

Origin of crowd²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English croud, crouth, from Welsh crwth; see also crwth

Explanation

A lot of people or things in a large group make up a crowd. The masses of performers with painted faces, big shoes, and squeaky noses filling up the streets during your town's annual clown parade can be described as a crowd of clowns. A crowd of people might gather for a party, concert, or demonstration, with the word crowd implying that there's something a little disorderly — noisy or unruly — about the group. Crowd can also mean "the mass of ordinary people," which is the way you're using the word when you say you want to "stand out from the crowd." You want to be seen as a distinct, individual person, rather than part of a larger mass of regular folks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crowd crowds crowded crowding

Another video showed a journalist being chased by a crowd in the eastern city of Patna.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

“Frankly, I felt woken up by this,” Gere told the packed crowd.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Hundreds of fans gathered outside Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on Wednesday as Salah emerged wearing Trabzonspor colours before engaging with the excited crowd.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The crowd skewed younger and the conversion topics lighter, with prompts like “Come beat me in Uno.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

In Womengo people talked about it, but I never thought that I would stand in a crowd somewhere and watch the race.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

Earlier this summer, large crowds of protestors converged on Delaney Hall in support of the hunger strikers.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Earlier that day, R∅z sparked crowds of fans to run to their stage as they brought out música mexicana star Peso Pluma.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Yet with every advantage afforded to them—automatic qualification, boisterous home crowds and even an assist from the Oval Office—they also demonstrated how far they were from legitimately contending.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

But its border guards must have seen the crowds building.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

In Paris, people were shouting, “To Berlin!” while in the German capital, crowds urged their army on to Paris.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

On the second anniversary of being ousted, Hasina said in an audio broadcast to a crowded press club in Delhi that she "had to go back", but wouldn't announce her exact plans or dates yet.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

She has established herself as the front-runner of a crowded primary, and that takes real acumen and skill.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

I ping-ponged from soft cheeses to eggs and squash, then past a gelato cart and a table crowded with jams, pepper jellies and a milk carton filled with VHS tapes.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

To speed up service at crowded venues, Campari has developed a new way to pour the Aperol Spritz: on tap.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

I knew other Jews would be seeking passage on the ships, but I didn’t expect the port to be crowded from end to end.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Some species may have acted as fire ladders, helping flames move through the landscape while also crowding out and smothering other vegetation.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

Here are some of the foreign policy issues already crowding Burnham's in-tray:

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

Declines for software companies like Workday, Adobe and ServiceNow were less pronounced Tuesday than IBM’s selloff, but the idea that AI spending is crowding out other parts of companies’ tech budgets rattled software stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Wrestling seemed to be endemic towards the end of last season, with players thrown to the floor and - at times - as many as 16 camped in the six-yard box crowding the goalkeeper.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Taran noticed the enchanter had even made some attempt at straightening up the disorder of ancient volumes crowding the room.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

Related Words

• cluster
• congest
• congregate
• deluge
• flock
• gather
• huddle
• overcrowd
• pack
• pile
• squeeze
• stream
• swamp
• swarm
• throng