From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
swarm
n 1: a moving crowd [syn: drove, horde, swarm]
2: a group of many things in the air or on the ground; "a swarm
of insects obscured the light"; "clouds of blossoms"; "it
discharged a cloud of spores" [syn: swarm, cloud]
v 1: be teeming, be abuzz; "The garden was swarming with bees";
"The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen"; "her mind
pullulated with worries" [syn: teem, pullulate,
swarm]
2: move in large numbers; "people were pouring out of the
theater"; "beggars pullulated in the plaza" [syn: pour,
swarm, stream, teem, pullulate]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swarm \Swarm\, n. [OE. swarm, AS. swearm; akin to D. zwerm, G.
schwarm, OHG. swaram, Icel. svarmr a tumult, Sw. sv[aum]rm a
swarm, Dan. svaerm, and G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz, Skr.
svar to sound, and perhaps to E. swear. [root]177. Cf.
Swerve, Swirl.]
1. A large number or mass of small animals or insects,
especially when in motion. "A deadly swarm of hornets."
--Milton.
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2. Especially, a great number of honeybees which emigrate
from a hive at once, and seek new lodgings under the
direction of a queen; a like body of bees settled
permanently in a hive. "A swarm of bees." --Chaucer.
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3. Hence, any great number or multitude, as of people in
motion, or sometimes of inanimate objects; as, a swarm of
meteorites.
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Those prodigious swarms that had settled themselves
in every part of it [Italy]. --Addison.
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Syn: Multitude; crowd; throng.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swarm \Swarm\, v. i. [Cf. Swerve.]
To climb a tree, pole, or the like, by embracing it with the
arms and legs alternately. See Shin. [Colloq.]
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At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for
those who could swarm up and seize it. --W. Coxe.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swarm \Swarm\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swarmed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Swarming.]
1. To collect, and depart from a hive by flight in a body; --
said of bees; as, bees swarm in warm, clear days in
summer.
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2. To appear or collect in a crowd; to throng together; to
congregate in a multitude. --Chaucer.
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3. To be crowded; to be thronged with a multitude of beings
in motion.
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Every place swarms with soldiers. --Spenser.
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4. To abound; to be filled (with). --Atterbury.
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5. To breed multitudes.
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Not so thick swarmed once the soil
Bedropped with blood of Gorgon. --Milton.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Swarm \Swarm\, v. t.
To crowd or throng. --Fanshawe.
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