swarm

¹ American  

[swawrm] / swɔrm /

noun

1. a body of honeybees that emigrate from a hive and fly off together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.

2. a body of bees settled together, as in a hive.

3. a great number of things or persons, especially in motion.

   Synonyms:

   mass, host, horde

4. Biology. a group or aggregation of free-floating or free-swimming cells or organisms.

5. Geology. a cluster of earthquakes or other geologic phenomena or features.

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verb (used without object)

1. to fly off together in a swarm, as bees.

2. to move about, along, forth, etc., in great numbers, as things or persons.

3. to congregate, hover, or occur in groups or multitudes; be exceedingly numerous, as in a place or area.

4. (of a place) to be thronged or overrun; abound or teem.

   The beach swarms with children on summer weekends.

5. Biology. to move or swim about in a swarm.

verb (used with object)

1. to swarm about, over, or in; throng; overrun.

2. to produce a swarm of.

swarm ² American  

[swawrm] / swɔrm /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to climb by clasping with the legs and hands or arms and drawing oneself up; shin.

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swarm ¹ British  

/ swɔːm /

noun

1. a group of social insects, esp bees led by a queen, that has left the parent hive in order to start a new colony

2. a large mass of small animals, esp insects

3. a throng or mass, esp when moving or in turmoil

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verb

1. (intr) (of small animals, esp bees) to move in or form a swarm

2. (intr) to congregate, move about or proceed in large numbers

3. to overrun or be overrun (with)

   the house swarmed with rats

4. (tr) to cause to swarm

swarm ² British  

/ swɔːm /

verb

1. to climb (a ladder, etc) by gripping with the hands and feet

   the boys swarmed up the rigging

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Related Words

See crowd ¹.

Other Word Forms

• swarmer noun

Etymology

Origin of swarm¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English swearm; cognate with German Schwarm swarm, Old Norse svarmr “tumult”; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of swarm²

First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Jonny Greenwood returned, roaring, with his music for swarming strings and neurotic piano in “One Battle After Another.”

From Los Angeles Times

Every time she opens her mouth I swear a swarm of horseflies and pestilence are released to consume the countryside.

From Salon

As emergency vehicles swarmed the area, the White House, located a few blocks from where the attack took place, and several embassies in the area went into lockdown.

From The Wall Street Journal

This combination of chemical and biological changes indicates that the quake swarm temporarily boosted the resources available to deep microbial life.

From Science Daily

“Today, Border Patrol targeted Long Beach, swarming the streets again and taking gardeners, old men and a 12-pack of beer that they had,” he began.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• congregate
• crawl
• flock
• gather
• overrun
• stream
• teem
• throng