crowd
1 Americannoun
-
a large number of persons gathered closely together; throng.
a crowd of angry people.
-
any large number of persons.
-
any group or set of persons with something in common.
The restaurant attracts a theater crowd.
-
Opening night drew a good crowd.
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the common people; the masses.
He feels superior to the crowd.
- Synonyms:
- populace, plebeians, proletariat
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a large number of things gathered or considered together.
-
Sociology. a temporary gathering of people responding to common stimuli and engaged in any of various forms of collective behavior.
verb (used without object)
-
crowds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crowded,
past participle, past
-
crowding
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
crowds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crowded,
past participle, past
-
crowding
present participle
-
to press closely together; force into a confined space; cram.
to crowd clothes into a suitcase.
-
to fill to excess; fill by pressing or thronging into.
-
to place under pressure or stress by constant solicitation.
to crowd a debtor for payment; to crowd someone with embarrassing questions.
idioms
noun
noun
-
a large number of things or people gathered or considered together
-
a particular group of people, esp considered as a social or business set
the crowd from the office
-
-
the common people; the masses
-
( as modifier )
crowd ideas
-
-
to conform with the majority
verb
-
(intr) to gather together in large numbers; throng
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(tr) to press together into a confined space
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(tr) to fill to excess; fill by pushing into
-
informal (tr) to urge or harass by urging
-
nautical to hoist as much sail as possible
noun
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.
- Used in a sentence: We crowded around the trained monkey to watch it dance.
- 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.
- Used in a sentence: I don’t really fit in with this artsy crowd.
- 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
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crowdsimple
-
crowdssimple
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have crowdedperfect
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has crowdedperfect
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am crowdingprogressive
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are crowdingprogressive
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is crowdingprogressive
-
have been crowdingperfect progressive
-
has been crowdingperfect progressive
Past
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crowdedsimple
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had crowdedperfect
-
was crowdingprogressive
-
were crowdingprogressive
-
had been crowdingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing crowd
Beowulf vocabulary
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Teeming Terms: Synonyms for "Full"
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"The Sporting Spirit"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Guides predicted that untrained drivers would crowd or otherwise harass animals, or play down the importance of the wildlife expertise guides had built over years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
As the band emerged in their trademark high-fashion, glittering outfits, the crowd danced freely, setting the tone for an evening that felt less like a routine tour stop and more like a homecoming.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Nacua is doubtful for this game, a tougher matchup in a venue with a difficult crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
Tiphaine Plattard, 32, walked out of the crowd behind a boy in tears, patiently settling him down for a rest in a pushchair.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
The noise is deafening, with actors, jugglers, and glass blowers working the crowd.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Pope Leo XIV rode down the French capital's iconic Champs-Elysees avenue in his popemobile on Saturday to the cheers of huge crowds of faithful, ahead of a giant open-air mass.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
He’d had the eulogy he wrote for her in his pocket, and he decided to read it to her once alone, without the crowds and cameras.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Large crowds are also due at other stages in the Pope's itinerary, reflecting an enthusiasm that the Church attributes to growing spiritual thirst among the French and other Europeans.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Museums are turning to Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and the Surrealists to lure crowds out of the autumnal chill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Cheered on by massive crowds, Fidel Castro marched triumphantly into Havana.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that seeks to remove abused and neglected animals from crowded municipal shelters during their owners’ criminal cases, according to the bill’s backers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
When the ratio falls or rises to extreme levels, it can work well as a contrarian indicator, because it indicates that the bearish or bullish trades may have gotten too crowded.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
Professional life is crowded with micro-signals — clothes, cups, phones, tone, timing, posture — ordinary things that remain perfectly neutral until someone decides they are evidence of character.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Having a physically small or crowded optic nerve, also called a “disc at risk,” is the single strongest anatomical risk factor for developing NAION, optometrists and neuro-ophthalmologists said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
“It’s not crowded, if that’s what you mean,” I say.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Actor D’Arcy Carden stopped by early, beating the cadre of guests crowding the main plaza beneath the now-famous oculus of the 300,000-square-foot Ma Yansong-designed building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
On the first days of protest, there were about 100,000 people crowding this central street, which stretches from Skanderbeg Square down to the Polytechnic University of Tirana, a distance of almost a mile.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Investor sentiment across the sector is becoming more debated, with short and long crowding metrics rising across most of the sector month-over-month,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
He called on the supporters of Khan, who remains a dominant political personality, to abide by the party's agreement with the court that there "must not be any crowding or commotion".
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
And then the whole class was crowding around us and saying, “So cool” and “Oh, gross.”
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
