/ gruːp; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun [ C +sing./pl. v . ]
1.
a number of people or things that are together in the same place or that are connected in some way :
a group of girls / trees / houses
A group of us are going to the theatre this evening.
Students stood around in groups waiting for their results.
The residents formed a community action group.
English is a member of the Germanic group of languages
The proportion of single parent families varies between different income groups.
a minority group
ethnic groups
a group activity (= done by a number of people working together)
She asked her students to get into groups of four.
to work in groups
—see also subgroup
HELP NOTE : There are many other compounds ending in group . You will find them at their place in the alphabet.
2.
( business ) a number of companies that are owned by the same person or organization :
a newspaper group
the Burton group
the group sales director
3.
(rather old-fashioned ) a number of musicians who perform together, especially to play pop music :
She sings in a rock group.
■ verb
1.
group (sb/sth) (round / around sb/sth) | group (sb/sth) (together) to gather into a group; to make sb/sth form a group :
[ vn ]
The children grouped themselves around their teacher.
[ v ]
We all grouped around the tree for a photograph.
The colleges grouped together to offer a wider range of courses.
2.
[ vn ] to divide people or things into groups of people or things that are similar in some way :
The books are grouped together by subject.
Contestants were grouped according to age and ability.
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WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent.: from French groupe , from Italian gruppo , of Germanic origin; related to crop .