I. group 1 S1 W1 /ɡruːp/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: groupe , from Italian gruppo ]
1 . [ also + plural verb British English ] several people or things that are all together in the same place
group of
a group of children
a small group of islands
Get into groups of four.
He was surrounded by a group of admirers.
in groups
Dolphins travel in small groups.
A group of us are going to London.
2 . several people or things that are connected with each other:
a left-wing terrorist group
group of
She is one of a group of women who have suffered severe side-effects from the drug.
age/ethnic/income etc group (=people of the same age, race etc)
Minority groups are encouraged to apply.
3 . several companies that all have the same owner ⇨ chain :
a giant textiles group
group of
He owns a group of hotels in southern England.
4 . a number of musicians or singers who perform together, playing popular music SYN band
⇨ ↑ blood group , ↑ focus group , ↑ interest group , ↑ playgroup , ↑ pressure group , ↑ working group
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ phrases
▪ a member of a group/a group member
Frank was invited to be a member of the group.
▪ a group of three, four, five etc
There was a group of three at the bar, two men and a woman.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + group
▪ an age group
Older people are being affected by the economic downturn more than other age groups.
▪ an ethnic group (=one whose members belong to a particular race or nation)
The university welcomes enquiries and applications from all ethnic groups.
▪ a minority group (=one whose members belong to a different race, religion etc from most other people in a country)
Conditions for many minority groups have worsened.
▪ a racial group
Schools should not stereotype pupils from certain racial groups as troublemakers.
▪ a social group (=a group of people from a particular class in society)
Lower social groups had a higher average family size.
▪ an income group
The budget will affect people differently, according to their income group.
▪ sb’s peer group (=people of the same age, social group etc)
Many girls at school derive enormous strength from their peer groups.
▪ a pressure group (=one that tries to make the government do something)
Friends of the Earth is Britain’s leading environmental pressure group.
▪ a protest group
They formed a protest group and a petition of 50,000 signatures was presented at the town hall.
▪ a splinter group (=that has separated from another political or religious group)
A Social Democratic Party ( SDP), formed as a splinter group of the Socialist Party of Serbia.
▪ a close-knit/closely-knit/tightly-knit group (=in which everyone knows each other well and gives each other support)
The young mothers in the village are a fairly close-knit group.
▪ a support group (=a group that meets in order to help the people in it deal with a difficult time)
She set up a support group for people suffering from the same illness.
▪ a control group (=a group used in an experiment or survey to compare its results with those of another group)
A control group had to be examined as well as the group that we are studying.
■ group + NOUN
▪ a group decision
Being involved in a group decision can help motivate workers.
▪ a group discussion
The course includes both individual work and group discussions.
▪ a group leader
There were three groups of eight people, each with a group leader.
■ verbs
▪ belong to a group
Ben belonged to an environmental group.
▪ get into groups
The teacher asked the students to get into groups.
▪ organize something into groups
Small children work best when they are organized into very small groups.
▪ join a group
He joined a self-help group for divorced men.
▪ leave a group
Rebecca left the group following a disagreement.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 4)
■ NOUN + group
▪ a pop/rock/jazz group
They’re one of the most exciting pop groups around at the moment.
■ phrases
▪ a member of a group
Jeremy was a member of a heavy metal group.
▪ be in a group
She's in a jazz group, playing the saxophone.
■ verbs
▪ start a group
Ben and some friends started a rock group at school.
▪ found a group formal (=start a group)
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards founded the group in the early Sixties.
▪ a group splits up (=the members decide not to play together anymore)
The group split up because of ‘musical differences’.
▪ a group re-forms (=the members decide to play together again)
The group has re-formed and is planning a series of comeback concerts.
• • •
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.
■ of animals
▪ herd a group of cows, deer, or elephants:
A herd of cows was blocking the road.
▪ team a group of people who work together:
She is being cared for by a team of doctors.
▪ flock a group of sheep or birds:
a flock of seagulls
|
The farmer has over 100 sheep in his flock.
▪ pack a group of dogs or wolves:
Some dogs are bred to work in packs.
▪ litter a group of kittens or puppies born at one time to a particular mother:
He was one of a litter of seven puppies.
▪ school/shoal a group of fish or dolphins:
Piranha fish live in shoals in the wild.
■ of things
▪ bunch a group of things held or tied together, especially flowers or keys:
He handed me a bunch of daffodils.
▪ bundle several papers, clothes, or sticks held or tied together in an untidy pile:
Bundles of papers and files filled the shelves.
▪ cluster a group of things of the same kind that are close together in a place:
a cluster of stars
|
Our road ended at a cluster of cottages.
II. group 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to come together and form a group, or to arrange things or people together in a group
group (something) together/round/into etc
The photo shows four men grouped round a jeep.
Different flowers can be grouped together to make a colourful display.
small producers who group together to sell their produce
2 . [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to divide people or things into groups according to a system:
We were grouped into six age bands.
We’ve grouped the questions under three headings.