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crowd1

[kroud]
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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.
  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)
  1. to gather in large numbers; throng; swarm.
  2. to press forward; advance by pushing.
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verb (used with object)
  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.
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Idioms
  1. crowd on sail, Nautical. to carry a press of sail.
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Origin of crowd1

before 950; Middle English crowden, Old English crūden to press, hurry; cognate with Middle Dutch crūden to push (Dutch kruien)
Related formscrowd·er, noun

Synonyms

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5. proletariat, plebeians, populace. 8. assemble, herd.

Synonym study

1. 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.

Usage note

See collective noun.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

throngswampstreamcongestclusterdelugegatherhuddleswarmcongregatepileflocksqueezepackovercrowdbundlesquishshovemusterram

Examples from the Web for crowding

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Between them, his days and nights were occupied to crowding.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • What was the use of all that noise and crowding and piggish hurry?

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • And pushing, crowding, hugging the side of the stall, Mortimer fought his way to the girl.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • Chip nodded, half suffocated with crowding, incredulous hopes.

  • There is a continual jostling, and crowding, and buzzing, and striving to get promotion.

    A Dish Of Orts

    George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for crowding

crowd1

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 setthe crowd from the office
    1. the crowdthe common people; the masses
    2. (as modifier)crowd ideas
  4. follow the crowd 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. (tr) informal to urge or harass by urging
  5. crowd on sail nautical to hoist as much sail as possible
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Derived Formscrowded, adjectivecrowdedly, adverbcrowdedness, nouncrowder, noun

Word Origin

Old English crūdan; related to Middle Low German krūden to molest, Middle Dutch crūden to push, Norwegian kryda to swarm

crowd2

noun
  1. music an ancient bowed stringed instrument; crwth
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Word Origin

C13: from Welsh crwth
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crowding

crowd

v.

Old English crudan "to press, crush." Cognate with Middle Dutch cruden "to press, push," Middle High German kroten "to press, oppress," Norwegian kryda "to crowd." Related: Crowded; crowding.

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crowd

n.

1560s, from crowd (v.). The earlier word was press (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
crowding in Medicine

crowding

(krou′dĭng)
n.
  1. A condition in which the teeth are crowded in the dental arch, assuming altered positions, as by overlapping and twisting.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with crowding

crowd

see follow the crowd; three's a crowd.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.