swarm

1 of 3

noun

1
a
: a great number of honeybees emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere
b
: a colony of honeybees settled in a hive
2
a
: a large number of animate or inanimate things massed together and usually in motion : throng
swarms of sightseers
a swarm of locusts
a swarm of meteors
b
: a number of similar geologic features or phenomena close together in space or time
a swarm of dikes
an earthquake swarm

swarm

2 of 3

verb (1)

swarmed; swarming; swarms

intransitive verb

1
: to form and depart from a hive in a swarm
2
a
: to move or assemble in a crowd : throng
b
: to hover about in the manner of a bee in a swarm
3
: to contain a swarm : teem
swarming with bugs

transitive verb

1
: to fill with a swarm
2
: to beset or surround in a swarm
players swarming the quarterback
swarmer noun

swarm

3 of 3

verb (2)

swarmed; swarming; swarms

intransitive verb

: to climb with the hands and feet
specifically : shin
swarm up a pole

transitive verb

: to climb up : mount

Examples of swarm in a Sentence

Noun a swarm of tourists descends upon the island every summer
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The Russian military used swarms of drones, many of them Iranian-made, in attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure targets. Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 There is even a satirical depiction of a feast laid for noblemen threatened by a giant swarm of flies. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 Instead, it would be nested inside a satellite, capable of destroying swarms of commercial and military satellites circulating alongside it in low-earth orbit, including those like Starlink that are remaking global communications capabilities. David E. Sanger, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024 These new bots swarm websites not to catalog content but to feed that content to AI, a technology that threatens to replace search as the default means of online discovery (and does so by digesting and regurgitating the content in a monstrous, unciteable form). Longreads, 16 Feb. 2024 In the Russia-Ukraine war, drone conflict has often meant swarms of dozens of drones attacking at once. David Ingram, NBC News, 7 Feb. 2024 Before long, he’s subsumed by a swarm of bucking bodies, and chaos prevails. Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2024 The Scottish wildcat population has become a hybrid swarm, with the proportion of domestic cat ancestry ranging between 11% and 74% in all modern wildcat samples. Scott Travers, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 Smell it first and, unlike wine tasting, keep your mouth ajar, to allow the ample alcohol fumes to pass by your receptors without attacking them like a swarm of wasps. Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 4 Feb. 2024
Verb
Constant crowds swarmed the mural, incessantly triggering the building’s security light; this led the property’s owner to cover the work with black paint and sell the office space. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 6 Mar. 2024 Less than 48 hours after Cash’s death, Salt says reporters from multiple outlets were swarming her house, even pretending to be relatives to gain access to her friends’ homes and neighbors’ properties. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2024 Despite pleas from local authorities, dozens of spectators swarmed the area. Elissa Robinson, Detroit Free Press, 5 Mar. 2024 In what Palestinian leaders are calling Israel's flour massacre, people had swarmed the trucks in the desperate hope of getting a sack of flour, only to be killed. CBS News, 3 Mar. 2024 The spotted lanternfly can swarm and take out big swaths of crops. Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 27 Feb. 2024 In response to her post, fans swarmed the comment section to also reminisce about the past. Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024 Suspect's neighbors recall police swarming complex Jennifer Slonaker and Ricky Carter, husband and wife, live in the Argo Apartment Community in Athens in one of the units above where Ibarra was living. Marissa Parra, NBC News, 25 Feb. 2024 Foster was swarmed by former teammates for pictures after the news conference. Dan Greenspan, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'swarm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English swearm; akin to Old High German swaram swarm and probably to Latin susurrus hum

Verb (2)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Verb (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of swarm was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near swarm

Cite this Entry

“Swarm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swarm. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

swarm

1 of 2 noun
1
: a great number of honeybees leaving together from a hive with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere
also : a colony of honeybees settled in a hive
2
: a large number grouped together and usually in motion
swarms of sightseers
a swarm of meteors

swarm

2 of 2 verb
1
: to form and leave a hive in a swarm
2
: to move or gather in a swarm : throng
spectators swarmed into the stadium
3
: to contain or fill with a swarm

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