crowds

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of crowd.

   Cheering crowds lined both sides of the parade route.

   Security struggled to manage the restless crowds at the gates.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. As a noun it counts gatherings, and the same letters serve the present-tense verb in "she crowds the doorway." The plural covers people and things alike: crowds of fans, crowds of rooftops. The scornful sense of the populace usually appears in the singular with "the" (the crowd). Crowd is also an old name for a fiddle, a variant of crwth, and that word makes crowds too.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of crowd.

   Every weekend she crowds her calendar with appointments she later cancels.

   An eager fan crowds against the barrier for a closer look at the stage.

   Note

   Most of the verb's range turns on whether an object follows. Without one, someone crowds forward or crowds against a barrier, pressing in. With one, it crowds a space or crams things into it, as when she crowds her calendar. Sailors have a narrower use: a ship that crowds another comes too close when the other vessel has the right of way.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2