I. swarm 1 /swɔːm $ swɔːrm/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: swearm ]
1 . a large group of insects, especially ↑ bee s , moving together
2 . a crowd of people who are moving quickly
swarm of
Swarms of tourists jostled through the square.
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THESAURUS
▪ crowd a large number of people together in one place:
The exhibition is expected to attract large crowds of visitors.
▪ mob a crowd of noisy and violent people who are difficult to control:
The mob set fire to cars and buildings.
▪ mass a very large crowd which is not moving and which is very difficult to move through:
the mass of people in the station
▪ horde a large crowd of people, especially people who are behaving in a way that you disapprove of or that annoys you:
the hordes of tourists on the island
▪ droves [plural] a crowd of people – used especially when you are talking about a crowd of people who move from one place to another:
The public came in droves to see the event.
▪ throng literary a very large crowd:
A great throng had gathered to listen to his speech.
▪ flock a large group of people of the same type, especially when they have a leader:
A flock of children were being shown through the museum.
▪ pack a group of people of the same type, especially a group you do not approve of:
A pack of reporters shouted questions.
▪ swarm a large crowd of people who are moving quickly in many directions in a very uncontrolled way:
a swarm of children in the playground
▪ crush a crowd of people who are pressed close together:
There was such a crush on the Metro this morning.
▪ multitude formal literary a very large number of people, especially ordinary people:
The Emperor came out to speak to the multitude.
⇨ ↑ group
II. swarm 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
1 . [always + adverb/preposition] if people swarm somewhere, they go there as a large uncontrolled crowd:
Photographers were swarming around the princess.
2 . if ↑ bee s swarm, they leave a ↑ hive (=place where they live) in a large group to look for another home
swarm with somebody/something phrasal verb
to be full of a moving crowd of people or animals:
The museum was swarming with tourists.