swarm: Meaning and Definition of

swarm

Pronunciation: (swôrm), [key]
— n.
  1. a body of honeybees that emigrate from a hive and fly off together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.
  2. a body of bees settled together, as in a hive.
  3. a great number of things or persons, esp. in motion.
  4. a group or aggregation of free-floating or free-swimming cells or organisms.
  5. a cluster of earthquakes or other geologic phenomena or features.
—v.i.
  1. to fly off together in a swarm, as bees.
  2. to move about, along, forth, etc., in great numbers, as things or persons.
  3. to congregate, hover, or occur in groups or multitudes; be exceedingly numerous, as in a place or area.
  4. (of a place) to be thronged or overrun; abound or teem: The beach swarms with children on summer weekends.
  5. to move or swim about in a swarm.
—v.t.
  1. to swarm about, over, or in; throng; overrun.
  2. to produce a swarm of.

swarm

Pronunciation: (swôrm), [key]
— v.t., v.i.
  1. to climb by clasping with the legs and hands or arms and drawing oneself up; shin.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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