/ kraʊd; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] a large number of people gathered together in a public place, for example in the streets or at a sports game :
He pushed his way through the crowd.
A small crowd had gathered outside the church.
Police had to break up the crowd.
Crowds of people poured into the street.
I want to get there early to avoid the crowds.
The match attracted a capacity crowd of 80 000.
The crowd cheered the winning hit.
crowd control
crowd trouble
A whole crowd of us are going to the ball (= a lot of us) .
He left the hotel surrounded by crowds of journalists.
2.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] ( informal , often disapproving ) a particular group of people :
Bob introduced her to some of the usual crowd (= people who often meet each other) .
the bright young theatrical crowd
3.
the crowd [ sing. ] (sometimes disapproving ) ordinary people, not special or unusual in any way :
We all like to think we stand out from the crowd (= are different from and better than other people) .
He prefers to be one of the crowd .
She's quite happy to follow the crowd .
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
to fill a place so there is little room to move :
Thousands of people crowded the narrow streets.
2.
to fill your mind so that you can think of nothing else :
Memories crowded his mind.
3.
( informal ) to stand very close to sb so that they feel uncomfortable or nervous
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- crowd around / round (sb/sth)
- crowd in (on sb) | crowd into sth
- crowd into / onto sth | crowd in
- crowd sb/sth into / onto sth | crowd sb/sth in
- crowd sb/sth out
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English crūdan press, hasten , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kruien push in a wheelbarrow. In Middle English the senses move by pushing and push one's way arose, leading to the sense congregate , and hence (mid 16th cent.) to the noun.