throng

[thrawng, throng]

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noun

a multitude of people crowded or assembled together; crowd.

a great number of things crowded or considered together: a throng of memories.

Chiefly Scot. pressure, as of work.

verb (used without object)

to assemble, collect, or go in large numbers; crowd.

verb (used with object)

to crowd or press upon; jostle.

to fill or occupy with or as with a crowd: He thronged the picture with stars.

to bring or drive together into or as into a crowd, heap, or collection.

to fill by crowding or pressing into: They thronged the small room.

adjective Scot. and North England.

filled with people or objects; crowded.

(of time) filled with things to do; busy.

Origin of throng

before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English gethrang; cognate with Dutch drang, German Drang pressure, Old Norse thrǫng throng; (adj. and v.) Middle English; akin to the noun; compare obsolete thring to press

Related formsin·ter·throng·ing, adjectiveo·ver·throng, verbun·thronged, adjective

Synonyms for throng

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR throng ON THESAURUS.COM

1. horde, host; assemblage.

Synonym study

1. See crowd¹.

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

Related Words for thronging

swarm, jostle, load, lade, throng, crowd, bind, stuff, pile, cram, squeeze, rush, drain, stream, spill, spew, flow, flood, cascade, splash

Examples from the Web for thronging

Historical Examples of thronging

Rawson caught a glimpse of hundreds of other thronging figures.
Two Thousand Miles Below
Charles Willard Diffin
The twilight was coming down with thronging mysterious voices.
Blazed Trail Stories
Stewart Edward White
Who may say what thoughts are thronging through their souls!
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 5, May, 1864
Various
Wagons had come in from country places and customers were thronging about them.
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas
There is a rush of thronging feet as the followers of each prepare for fight.
Historic Boys
Elbridge Streeter Brooks

British Dictionary definitions for thronging

throng

noun

a great number of people or things crowded together

verb

to gather in or fill (a place) in large numbers; crowd

(tr) to hem in (a person); jostle

adjective

Yorkshire dialect (postpositive) busy

Word Origin for throng

Old English gethrang; related to Old Norse throng, Old High German drangōd

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 thronging

throng

c.1300, probably shortened from Old English geþrang "crowd, tumult" (related to verb þringan "to push, crowd, press"), from Proto-Germanic *thrangan (cf. Old Norse þröng, Dutch drang, German Drang "crowd, throng").

throng

"go in a crowd," 1530s, from throng (n.). Related: Thronged; thronging.