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throng

[thrawng, throng]
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noun
  1. a multitude of people crowded or assembled together; crowd.
  2. a great number of things crowded or considered together: a throng of memories.
  3. Chiefly Scot. pressure, as of work.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to assemble, collect, or go in large numbers; crowd.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to crowd or press upon; jostle.
  2. to fill or occupy with or as with a crowd: He thronged the picture with stars.
  3. to bring or drive together into or as into a crowd, heap, or collection.
  4. to fill by crowding or pressing into: They thronged the small room.
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adjective Scot. and North England.
  1. filled with people or objects; crowded.
  2. (of time) filled with things to do; busy.
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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

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. 2018

Examples from the Web for thronging

Historical Examples

  • 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!

  • 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
  1. a great number of people or things crowded together
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verb
  1. to gather in or fill (a place) in large numbers; crowd
  2. (tr) to hem in (a person); jostle
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adjective
  1. Yorkshire dialect (postpositive) busy
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Word Origin

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

n.

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").

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throng

v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper