I. ˈkrau̇d verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English crouden, from Old English crūdan to press, hasten, drive; akin to Middle Low German krūden to annoy, Middle High German kroten to press, crowd, annoy, Old English crod multitude, Norwegian kryda to swarm, Middle Irish gruth curds
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to press on : hurry
crowd on one's way
the ships crowded northward
b. : to force a way : appear in an oppressive or importunate manner
darkness of evening crowded in
his heart crowded up into his breast — Pearl S. Buck
c. : to press close
the players crowded around the coach
new cheap labor crowding on the heels of earlier comers — American Guide Series: Minnesota
2. : to collect in numbers : throng
memories crowd in from every stage of the journey — Barbara Ward
policemen warning people not to crowd
transitive verb
1. : encumber , burden , crush , oppress
crowd a person's patience with solicitations
a person crowded to death with titles and honors
2.
a. : to fill by pressing or thronging together : fill or occupy to excess or obstruction
crowd a bus with children
10,000 spectators crowding a stadium
his mind was crowded with the detail he observed — Nevil Shute
b. : to press, force, or thrust especially into a small space or little time : compress , compact , cram
crowd children into a bus
the same wish to crowd meaning is responsible for a good many slurred references — John Berryman
a multitude of things were crowded together
3. obsolete : to confine forcibly : imprison — usually used with in
4. : push , move , force — usually used with off or out
crowd a person off the sidewalk
we have allowed a false creed to crowd out the real American tradition — Bradford Smith
5.
a. : to urge on : hurry
we crowded the motor to ten knots — Clifford Gessler
I crowded him until streams of sweat ran — J.H.Stuart
b.
(1) : to put on (sail) in excess of the usual amount so as to attain maximum speed
(2) : increase
the engineer crowds steam in the cylinders — Frederick Way
— often used with on
crowd on speed
6. : to put pressure upon (as by solicitation) : dun unreasonably or harshly
I'd never crowded him with questions — J.B.Benefield
7. : throng , jostle
changes … crowd each other in a whirl of confusing images — N.M.Butler
8.
a. : to press close to
one car crowding the car in front
crowding thirty and still not married
b. : to be a close second to : nearly overtake
c. : to stand close to (the plate) when batting in baseball
9. : to count on or trust to (luck) unreasonably
crowding his luck for all it was worth — F.B.Gipson
Synonyms: see pack , press
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a large number of persons especially when collected into a somewhat compact body without order : throng
a crowd of little children
b. : an unorganized aggregate of people temporarily united in response to a common stimulus or situation in which the individuality of the participants is submerged — compare mob
2. : the great body of the people : populace
no man more hated and feared by the crowd , the generality of mankind — Edith Sitwell
all our ideas are crowd ideas — T.H.Ferril
3. : a large number of things collected or closely pressed together : multitude
crowds of fine silver dust — G.H.Johnston
an exciting crowd of incidents — H.C.Webster
a crowd of wasps, hornets, flies, and gnats — Ellen Glasgow
4. : a group of people with something (as a habit, interest, occupation) in common : an exclusive company : set , clique
the cocktail crowd
the Hollywood crowd
I don't like him or his crowd
in with the wrong crowd
5.
a. : the impressed forward movement of the dipper of a power shovel that forces it into the material to be moved
b. : the mechanism that does the forcing
Synonyms:
throng , press , crush , mob , rout , horde : crowd indicates a massed group of persons, often closely pressed and often with subordination of individualities involved
the crowd came pouring out with a vehemence that nearly took him off his legs — Charles Dickens
we get the real sense of a crowd of human beings, animated, as a crowd, by an instinct and a genius different from that of any of its particular members — Laurence Binyon
throng is closely synonymous with crowd; occasionally it may suggest surging motion or bustling confusion
summer tourists come to join the shopping throngs on summer evenings — American Guide Series: New Hampshire
sailors hung from yards and bowsprits to shout the names of vessels to the bewildered, harried throng — Kenneth Roberts
press , not now used so much as formerly, may suggest compact concentration in which movement is difficult
they could not come nigh unto him for the press — Mk 2:4 (Authorized Version)
crush more strongly stresses compact concentration and difficulty of passage through; it is rarely used without connotation of discomfort
the crush was terrific for that time of day … for the street was blocked — Virginia Woolf
a crush of dancing couples packed the floor — Hamilton Basso
mob , usually derogatory, is likely to indicate a rough crowd composed of lower elements, often one disposed to disorder, riot, or other antisocial action and one abrogating any finer feeling
Oliver was burned in effigy, and Hutchinson's town house was gutted by the mob — C.L.Becker
the mob, loudly as they clamored for their own rights, cared nothing for the rights of others — J.A.Froude
rout is sometimes a close synonym of mob; it may suggest a concentration of hectic or disorderly activity in a circumscribed space
the busy rout of the street could be seen. He loved the changing panorama of the street — Theodore Dreiser
a kind of jollity and recklessness which was born in the fort, at the old routs and balls — Bruce Hutchison
a flying rout of suns and galaxies, rushing away from the solar system and from one another — E.M.Forster
horde may apply to a large surging mass or crowd of rough or savage individuals disposed to predatory or destructive action
hordes of desperadoes and gunmen who found the river at this point a convenient crossing — American Guide Series: Texas
hordes of sturdy rogues and vagrants — G.E.Fussell
a horde of heavily armed buffoons in big boots went stamping round my decks for hours, poking their great stupid faces into everything — Times Literary Supplement
III. “, ˈkrüd noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English crowde, crouth, from (assumed) Middle Welsh crwth (whence Welsh crwth fiddle); akin to Middle Irish crott harp, Latin curvus curved — more at crown
1. : crwth
2. dialect England : fiddle
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IV. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
dialect England : fiddle