flock

CEFRC1

/flɒk/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of birds, sheep, or similar animals.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of sheep, but (dated) also used for goats, farmed animals, and a wide variety of animals.

Examples

  • A boy was driving a flock of sheep.

  • I saw a flock of birds flying aloft.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Those served by a particular pastor or shepherd.

  2. A number of birds together in a group, such as those gathered together for the purpose of migration.

  3. A large number of people.

More examples

In context

  • People flocked to the cinema to see the new film.

  • the sampling and elution advantages of flocked swabs versus spun swabs

  • He told his father, and said it would be just suitable work for him to run about fields and woods amongst the strawberry hills after a flock of hares, and now and then lie down and take a nap on some sunny hill.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

A large blank of birds landed together in the field, searching for seeds to eat.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English flok, from Old English flocc (“flock, company, troop”), from Proto-West Germanic *flokk, from Proto-Germanic *flukkaz (“crowd, troop”). Cognate with German Low German Flock (“crowd, flock”), Danish flok (“flock”), Swedish flock (“flock”), Norwegian flokk (“flock”), Faroese flokkur (“flock”), Icelandic flokkur (“flock, group”). Related also to Norman fliotchet (“flock, crowd”), from Old Norse. Perhaps related to Old English folc (“crowd, troop, band”). More at folk.