swarm

UK: /ˈswɔː^rm/ US: /swɔrm/ ,(swôrm)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

swarm¹ /swɔrm/   n. [countable]

1. Insects a body of honeybees that leave a hive and fly off together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.
2. a great number of things or persons moving together:
   A swarm of reporters descended on her.

v. 

3. to move about, along, or together in great numbers: [no object]
   The crowd swarmed around the winner.
   [~ + object]
   The excited crowd swarmed the winner.
4. swarm with, [~ + object] (of a place) to have a great number of;
   to abound;
   teem:
   a beach swarming with children.

Synonyms

See crowd.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

swarm¹ (swôrm),  n. 

1. Insects a body of honeybees that emigrate from a hive and fly off together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.
2. Insects a body of bees settled together, as in a hive.
3. a great number of things or persons, esp. in motion.
4. Ecology, Microbiology [Biol.] a group or aggregation of free-floating or free-swimming cells or organisms.
5. Geology a cluster of earthquakes or other geologic phenomena or features.

v.i. 

6. Animal Behavior to fly off together in a swarm, as bees.
7. to move about, along, forth, etc., in great numbers, as things or persons.
8. to congregate, hover, or occur in groups or multitudes;
   be exceedingly numerous, as in a place or area.
9. (of a place) to be thronged or overrun;
   abound or teem:
   The beach swarms with children on summer weekends.
10. Animal Behavior [Biol.] to move or swim about in a swarm.

v.t. 

11. to swarm about, over, or in;
    throng;
    overrun.
12. to produce a swarm of.

• bef. 900; (noun, nominal) Middle English; Old English swearm; cognate with German Schwarm swarm, Old Norse svarmr tumult; (verb, verbal) Middle English swarmen, derivative of the noun, nominal

swarm′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 3. horde, host, mass. See crowd ¹.

swarm² (swôrm), v.t., v.i. 

1. to climb by clasping with the legs and hands or arms and drawing oneself up;
   shin.

• origin, originally uncertain 1540–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

swarm / swɔːm/ noun

1. a group of social insects, esp bees led by a queen, that has left the parent hive in order to start a new colony
2. a large mass of small animals, esp insects
3. a throng or mass, esp when moving or in turmoil

verb

1. (intransitive) (of small animals, esp bees) to move in or form a swarm
2. (intransitive) to congregate, move about or proceed in large numbers
3. when intr, often followed by with: to overrun or be overrun (with): the house swarmed with rats
4. (transitive) to cause to swarm

Etymology: Old English swearm; related to Old Norse svarmr uproar, Old High German swaram swarm

swarm / swɔːm/ verb

1. when intr, usually followed by up: to climb (a ladder, etc) by gripping with the hands and feet: the boys swarmed up the rigging

Etymology: 16th Century: of unknown origin