swarm

/swɔərm/

/swɔm/

Other forms: swarmed; swarming; swarms

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.

Definitions of swarm

1. noun

   a group of many things in the air or on the ground
   “a swarm of insects obscured the light”

   synonyms: cloud

   types:

   infestation, plague

   a swarm of insects that attack plants

   type of:

   group, grouping

   any number of entities (members) considered as a unit
2. noun

   a moving crowd
   synonyms: drove, horde

   type of:

   crowd

   a large number of things or people considered together
3. verb

   move in large numbers
   synonyms: pour, pullulate, stream, teem

   types:

   pour out, spill out, spill over

   be disgorged

   type of:

   crowd, crowd together

   to gather together in large numbers
4. verb

   be teeming, be abuzz
   “The garden was swarming with bees”

   synonyms: pullulate, teem

   types:

   crawl

   be full of

   type of:

   buzz, hum, seethe

   be noisy with activity