swarm

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Insects

swarm1 /swɔːm $ swɔːrm/ noun [countable]  1. HBIa large group of insects, especially bees, moving together 成群移动的昆虫；〔尤指〕蜂群2  CROWDa crowd of people who are moving quickly 〔迅速移动的〕人群swarm of Swarms of tourists jostled through the square. 一群群游客推推搡搡地穿过广场。

Examples from the Corpus

swarm• When the adventurers move from 5d to either 5c or 5e they are attacked by a swarm of shadowy, ethereal forms.• Picked out in silhouette is a swarm, a veritable plague, of humanity.• Outside the school a swarm of small children ran around shouting and laughing.• Jaq scanned another swarm of these hybrids, on the rampage with guns and blades.• Bee swarms, on the other hand, evoke another sort of awe.• Violet receives a great swarm of attention wherever we go.• An average-sized locust swarm devours in the region of 20,000 tons of vegetation every day.• Thousands of individuals, each not quite as big as a housefly make up the swarm.• But family therapists are also aware how profoundly these swarms of narratives can affect what we see and therefore how we live.swarm of• Swarms of tourists visit the resort every summer.• a swarm of locusts

Related topics: Insects

swarm2 verb [intransitive]  1  [always + adverb/preposition]CROWDGO if people swarm somewhere, they go there as a large uncontrolled crowd 成群结队地移动，蜂拥，涌往 Photographers were swarming around the princess. 摄影师们一窝蜂地围在公主身边。2. HBIif bees swarm, they leave a hive (=place where they live) in a large group to look for another home 〔蜜蜂〕成群飞离蜂巢〔寻觅新巢〕3 swarm with somebody/something phrasal verb CROWDFULLto be full of a moving crowd of people or animals 挤满〔移动的人群或动物〕 The museum was swarming with tourists. 博物馆里挤满了观光客。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

swarm• The birds returned, invaded Bird Spirit Land and flocked and swarmed above the funeral pyre.• Hundreds of refugees swarmed across the border.• Flies swarmed around him.• But despite their lack of education groups of children aged six to 12 swarmed around the machine all day.• In one scene, giant grasshoppers swarm atop the Wrigley Building in Chicago.• More and more monsters swarmed down from the glowing mountains.• Amid the barren ocean floor swarmed legions of bizarre, new animals.• I wandered through a poverty-stricken village in the countryside, flies swarming over me under a baking sun.• Reporters swarmed the area outside the courtroom.• Every day tourists swarm through the narrow streets of the old city.• They swarmed to the back by the dozen, chucking packets of Marlboro across the rows.• The cobbled beaches swarmed with seals, and there was, as well, a fine colony of otters.Origin swarm1 Old English swearm

swarm1 nounswarm2 verbChinese  

insects, especially large of bees, Corpus a group

swarm

I

swarm¹ /swɔːm $ swɔːrm/ noun [countable]1. a large group of insects, especially bees, moving together
2. a crowd of people who are moving quickly
    swarm of
    Swarms of tourists jostled through the square.
     

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

swarm² 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 bees 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.