crush emphasizes the compactness of the group, the difficulty of individual movement, and the attendant discomfort.
a crush of fans
mob implies a disorderly crowd with the potential for violence.
an angry mob
Examples of crowd in a Sentence
Verb
Boxes crowded the floor of my apartment.
There are too many products crowding the market.
The club has been accused of crowding too many people into too small a space.
By the end of the 10th mile, three bicyclists were crowding the racer in front.
Please move back. You're crowding me.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Airport bathrooms can be crowded, and many of us our rushing to our flights.—Jenn Rice, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Sep. 2023 There are plenty of reasons to keep tabs this season on the Washington Bach Consort, whose many offerings of chamber music, noontime cantatas, special presentations and robustly realized full performances of great works can crowd your calendar.—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2023 Beachgoers crowd Montrose Beach in Chicago on Monday.—Nidhi Sharma, NBC News, 5 Sep. 2023 After the game, fans crowded onto the outfield grass to view a video tribute to Bryant that was punctuated by a drone show.—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023 On June 24, the couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with more than 150 friends, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren crowding into the local American Legion Hall.—Susan Young, Peoplemag, 2 Sep. 2023 Fans crowded the Ford Stadium concourse seeking shade and water, which this year will be distributed at the gates for free.—Stefan Stevenson, Dallas News, 1 Sep. 2023 The spring gets crowded and wait times can range from one to three hours.—Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 31 Aug. 2023 Around the affordable eateries and motley shops where workers once crowded, employees eagerly latch onto anyone passing by.—Vivian Wang, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2023
Noun
That shows failed to attract crowds seen at earlier Detroit Auto Shows.—Michael Dobuski, ABC News, 20 Sep. 2023 In a video shared by 7 News WHDH, a crowd can be seen huddled near what appears to be two people, trying to pull them away from each other.—Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 20 Sep. 2023 Analyzing the top high school football games this week:
FRIDAY
Thousand Oaks (3-2, 1-0) at Newbury Park (3-1, 1-0), 7 p.m.
This Canyon League showdown between neighborhood teams should produce a packed crowd.—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2023 According to a statement of facts from the FBI, starting at about 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, a crowd began amassing on the west front of the Capitol.—Bill Bowden, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2023 Yellowstone can still draw a crowd — even for a repeat.—Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Sep. 2023 Unlike the total solar eclipse in 2017, when visitors were expected across Oregon, tourism officials are expecting crowds this year to be concentrated in one part of the state: Klamath County.—Jamie Hale, oregonlive, 19 Sep. 2023 In statements issued by BP and local police, tear gas was used to disperse crowds.—Heather Chen, CNN, 19 Sep. 2023 The exact time and audience are not yet clear, but the New York Times first reported Trump would skip the California debate in favor of remarks to a union crowd.—Olivia Rinaldi, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2023 See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crowd.' 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
Verb
Middle English crouden "to push forward, jostle, press, push or drive (something wheeled)," going back to Old English crūdan "to crowd, press (against), press forward (of a ship)," going back to Germanic *krūdan- "to press, push forward" (whence also Middle Dutch crûden "to push, shove, trundle," Norwegian regional kryda (preterit kraud) "to flow together, congregate"), of uncertain origin
Note:
Old English crūdan, a Class II strong verb, is attested twice in poetic texts, as crydeþ (third person singular present) and cread (third singular preterit); evidence in other old Germanic languages is lacking. Nominal derivatives *kruda- and *krudan- are evident in Old English lindgecrod "shield-bearing crowd" and lindcroda "shield-press, battle"; the same underlying forms may be evident in Middle Dutch crod "hindrance, bother," Middle High German krot "annoyance, distress," kroten, kröten "to bother, annoy." (Further Frisian and Low German forms are detailed in the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, s.v. crowd.) See also crud entry 2.
Middle English crouþ, croude, borrowed from Middle Welsh crwth "crowd (the instrument), fiddle, hump, humpback, anything round or bulging," going back to Celtic *krutto- "round or bulging object" (whence also, from a feminine derivative *kruttā, Welsh croth "womb, belly"; also Middle Irish crott, cruitt "harp, lyre, hump," Middle Breton courz "female genitals"), probably of expressive origin
Note:
The word crotta as the name of a musical instrument was used by the sixth century Latin poet and hymnodist Venantius Fortunatus ("… crotta Britanna canat" - "… may the British crotta sing"). The grounds for the shift from th to d in the English word are uncertain.
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