gaggle

[gag-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gaggle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), gag·gled, gag·gling.

to cackle.

noun

a flock of geese when not flying.Compare skein.

an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering: a politician followed by a gaggle of supporters.

an assortment of related things.

Origin of gaggle

1350–1400; Middle English gagelen (v.), gagel (noun); of imitative orig.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gaggle

series, array, lot, collection, batch, throng, horde, group, sellout, people, crew, congregation, mass, party, press, mob, circle, pack, brood, legion

Examples from the Web for gaggle

Contemporary Examples of gaggle

Growing up in Wellsville, New York, Beck was the middle child in a gaggle of sisters and a brother.
The Woman Stuck in a Navy SEAL's Body
Nina Strochlic
September 4, 2014
We met with a gaggle of foreign ministers for hours over days.
Is ‘The Interview’ About to Launch a Nuclear Sequel War?
Kevin Bleyer
June 29, 2014
A gaggle of adolescent dragons intent on flame-broiling every goat in Meereen.
Game of Thrones’ Ep. 6, ‘The Laws of Gods and Men’: The Riveting Trial of Tyrion Lannister
Andrew Romano
May 12, 2014
You name it, we went there, along with a gaggle of individuals who each had some kind of purpose.
Sandi Thom On How To Make It As A Female Rock Star
Sandi Thom
April 9, 2014
A gaggle of party faithful across the country will have six years in office to cut their teeth.
French Vote Thrusts Two Women Into the Spotlight
Tracy McNicoll
March 31, 2014

Historical Examples of gaggle

Then, with a clang of wings and a chorus of shrill quacks, a gaggle of wild duck got up and sped away into the dark.
The City in the Clouds
C. Ranger Gull
He hears the gaggle of geese, the trumpetings of wild swans, and the cry of the curlew as it hovers over the lights.
Poachers and Poaching
John Watson

British Dictionary definitions for gaggle

gaggle

verb

(intr) (of geese) to cackle

noun

a flock of geese

informal a disorderly group of people

a gabbling or cackling sound

Word Origin for gaggle

C14: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse gagl gosling, Dutch gaggelen to cackle, all of imitative origin

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 gaggle

late 15c., gagyll, with reference to both geese and women. Barnhart says possibly from Old Norse gagl "small goose, gosling, bird;" OED calls it "one of the many artificial terms invented in the 15th c. as distinctive collectives referring to particular animals or classes of persons." Possibly of imitative origin (cf. Dutch gagelen "to chatter;" Middle English gaggle "to cackle," used of geese, attested from late 14c.).