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

Explanation

A swarm is a good word for a large group of bees going on the attack — not good news. Like bees, any group of people or animals can be considered a swarm if they act together and quickly — even fiercely. On a hot day, when an ice-cream truck shows up, it's usually greeted by a swarm of hot, hungry kids. People at a concert can be a swarm — and people in the swarm can be hurt, because there's lots of pushing and shoving. When tickets for a popular movie go on sale, a swarm of people will swarm the theater. As you can see, swarm works as either a noun or verb, and people could teach bees a thing or two about swarming.

Example Sentences

In 2021, it bought satellite-data startup Swarm Technologies.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026

Since Swarm began operating, the magnetic field over Siberia has intensified while the field over Canada has weakened.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

Swarm intelligence also offers an enticing solution to a long-running concern for the PLA over the competence of rank-and-file soldiers and their commanders, who haven’t fought a war since the late 1970s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026

Spruell mostly plays villains; a racist cop in “Small Axe: Mangrove” and “Doctor Who’s” Swarm are recent examples.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2024

That was how Prince Stellar, King Blaze, Queen Misteria, the Star Drivers and the Swarm and all of them had been born.

From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore

Related Words

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