Swarm
[swɔːm] or [swɔrm]
Definition
(noun.) a group of many things in the air or on the ground; 'a swarm of insects obscured the light'; 'clouds of blossoms'; 'it discharged a cloud of spores'.
Typist: Murray--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To climb a tree, pole, or the like, by embracing it with the arms and legs alternately. See Shin.
(n.) A large number or mass of small animals or insects, especially when in motion.
(n.) Especially, a great number of honeybees which emigrate from a hive at once, and seek new lodgings under the direction of a queen; a like body of bees settled permanently in a hive.
(n.) Hence, any great number or multitude, as of people in motion, or sometimes of inanimate objects; as, a swarm of meteorites.
(v. i.) To collect, and depart from a hive by flight in a body; -- said of bees; as, bees swarm in warm, clear days in summer.
(v. i.) To appear or collect in a crowd; to throng together; to congregate in a multitude.
(v. i.) To be crowded; to be thronged with a multitude of beings in motion.
(v. i.) To abound; to be filled (with).
(v. i.) To breed multitudes.
(v. t.) To crowd or throng.
Typist: Willard
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Multitude (especially of winged insects), crowd, throng, concourse.
v. n. [1]. Crowd, throng, gather in a swarm.[2]. Be crowded, be thronged, be filled.
Typed by Jolin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Multitude, crowd, throng, cluster, host, mass, press, posse, bevy, flock,troop, drove, herd, horde, crew, gang, shoal, army, host, regiment, myriad,inundation
ANT:Paucity, sprinkling, scantling, rarity
Edited by Everett
Definition
n. a body of humming or buzzing insects: a cluster of insects esp. of bee: a great number: throng.—v.i. to gather as bees: to appear in a crowd: to throng: to abound: to breed multitudes.—v.t. to cause to breed in swarms.
v.i. to climb a tree by scrambling up by means of arms and legs (with up).
Typist: Stacey
Examples
- The streets are generally about wide enough for one wagon, and how they do swarm with people! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- He then perceived they were soldiers--thousands and tens of thousands; but they made no more noise than a swarm of midges on a summer evening. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- In a little while a swarm of Spanish adventurers were exploring the new lands. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The young swarm of Hypanians, who may be advanced one hour in life, approach his person with respect, and listen to his improving discourse. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- A howling swarm of beggars followed us--surrounded us --almost headed us off. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I spoke then readily: but a swarm of thoughts I had not anticipated nor invoked, rose dim at the words, making me sigh involuntarily. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Shortly after securing his first swarm of bees he commenced the manufacture of beehives in the same room where he had his jewelry business, using a large windmill for power. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- But most of them went toward the fire and then back toward the end and swarmed on the cool end and finally fell off into the fire. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Theresa kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while I swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- That is as true of all the minute creatures that swarmed and reproduced and died in the Arch?ozoic and Proterozoic seas, as it is of men to-day. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- After making her fast, they swarmed the sides and searched the vessel from stem to stern. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- To pass through the lighted rooms was, of course, out of the question, since they swarmed with green Martian men and women. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Then he had what was left of it carried to his own house; but even here spies swarmed to try to learn something of his secret. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- They swarmed close up to the walls, headed, as I think, by the knave who won the prize at the archery, for I knew his horn and baldric. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- A slave rushed into the dining hall to cry that a great concourse of people was swarming through the palace gates. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Except when game is swarming, hunting communities must not keep together in large bodies or they will starve. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- And wilt moreover assure us the retreat of that scum of mankind who are swarming around the castle, contrary to God's peace and the king's? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- An hum, like that of ten thousand hives of swarming bees, stunned us as we entered the coffee-room. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- And the world was fairly swarming with inventors! Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Surrounded on all sides by the Sultan's swarming battalions, the Christian Knights fought on without a hope for their lives. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- We have sat through the long watches of the night while Edison brooded on the real solution of the swarming problems. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Lyell that in November, 1844, swarms of locusts visited the island of Madeira. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Look at the most vigorous species; by as much as it swarms in numbers, by so much will it tend to increase still further. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Here are no white men visible, yet swarms of humanity are all about us. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Edited by Cary