I. crew 1 S3 W3 /kruː/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: crew 'additional soldiers, reinforcements' (15-16 centuries) , from Old French creue 'increase' , from creistre ; ⇨ ↑ crescent ]
1 . [countable] all the people who work on a ship or plane:
The plane crashed, killing two of the crew and four passengers.
crew of
He joined the crew of a large fishing boat.
a crew member
2 . [countable] a group of people working together with special skills:
a TV camera crew
⇨ ↑ ground crew
3 . [countable] a team of people who compete in ↑ rowing races:
Who will be on the college crew?
4 . [singular] a group of people or friends – often used to show disapproval:
The volunteers were a motley crew (=very mixed group of people) .
Do you still hang out with the same crew?
5 . [countable] informal
a) a group of musicians, especially ones playing ↑ hip hop , ↑ rap , or ↑ garage music
b) a group of ↑ hip hop dancers
6 . [countable] informal a group of young people who spend time together, often one that is involved in crime, drugs, or violence SYN gang
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ types of crew
▪ a film crew
The film crew were making a political documentary.
▪ a camera crew
a BBC camera crew
▪ a television/TV crew
Journalists and TV crews were waiting outside their house.
▪ a stage crew (=working to produce a play)
There is a cast of 100 and a stage crew of twenty.
▪ a production crew (=working to produce a film, programme, play etc)
She’s a member of the production crew for a new television series.
▪ a fire crew
Fire crews took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control.
▪ an ambulance crew
The woman had to be rescued from her car by an ambulance crew.
▪ the ground crew (=the people who prepare an airplane to fly)
The ground crew were refueling the plane.
▪ the cabin crew (=the people who work inside an airplane, especially the flight attendants)
I was impressed by the polite and efficient cabin crew.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ of people
▪ group several people together in the same place:
A group of boys stood by the school gate.
|
Arrange yourselves in groups of three.
▪ crowd a large group of people who have come to a place to do something:
There were crowds of shoppers in the streets.
|
The crowd all cheered.
▪ mob a large, noisy, and perhaps violent crowd:
An angry mob of demonstrators approached.
▪ mass a large group of people all close together in one place, so that they seem like a single thing:
The square in front of the station was a solid mass of people.
▪ bunch informal a group of people who are all similar in some way:
They’re a nice bunch of kids.
▪ gang a group of young people, especially a group that often causes trouble and fights:
He was attacked by a gang of youths.
▪ rabble a noisy group of people who are behaving badly:
He was met by a rabble of noisy angry youths.
▪ horde a very large group of people who all go somewhere:
In summer hordes of tourists flock to the island.
|
There were hordes of people coming out of the subway.
▪ crew a group of people who all work together, especially on a ship or plane:
the ship’s crew
|
The flight crew will serve drinks shortly.
▪ party a group of people who are travelling or working together:
A party of tourists stood at the entrance to the temple.
II. crew 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
to be part of the crew on a boat:
The boat is crewed by ten men.