swarm

CEFRB2

/swɔɹm/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A large group of insects moving together.

  2. 02

    verb

    To move together in a large group.

Examples

  • A swarm of bees attacked us without mercy.

  • A swarm of mosquitoes followed him.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A group of nodes sharing the same torrent in a BitTorrent network.

  2. A mass of people, animals or things in motion or turmoil.

  3. A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.

More examples

In context

  • a swarm of meteorites

  • […] reſtleſs thoughts, that like a deadly ſwarm / Of Hornets arm'd […] ruſh upon me thronging,

  • those prodigious swarms that had settled themselves in every part of it [Italy]

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Suddenly, a huge blank of angry bees flew out of the broken hive and surrounded the man.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English swarm, from Old English swearm (“swarm, multitude”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarm, from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (“swarm, dizziness”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Swoorm (“swarm”), Dutch zwerm, German Schwarm, Danish sværm, Swedish svärm, Icelandic svarmur (“tumult, swarm”), Latin susurrus (“whispering, humming”), Lithuanian surma (“a pipe”), Russian свире́ль (svirélʹ, “a pipe, reed”). The verb is from Middle English swarmen, swermen, from Old English swirman (“to swarm”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarmijan, from Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną (“to swarm”), from the noun. Cognate with Scots swairm, swerm (“to swarm”), D...