swarmn.

Brit.

/swɔːm/, U.S.

/swɔrm/

Forms: Old English suearm, swearm, swerm, Middle English–1600s swarme, 1500s swerm, Middle English– swarm.

Etymology: Old English swearm , = Frisian, Middle Low German swarm , Old High German suar(a)m (Middle High German swarem , swarm , German schwarm ) swarm of bees or insects, Old Norse svarmr tumult (Norwegian dialect svarm ) < Germanic *swarmaz . The root is usually identified with that of Sanskrit svárati sounds, resounds, svará , svára sound, voice, and connected further with sur- in Latin susurrus hum, Middle Low German surren to hum, Middle High German surm humming, Lithuanian surmà pipe, etc. But the etymological meaning may be that of agitated, confused, or deflected movement, in which case swarm n. and swerve n. might arise from parallel formations on the same base; compare the parallelism of swarm v.² and swarve v.²; Norwegian dialect svarma to be giddy, stagger, dream, and svarva to turn, go in a circle, stagger, be agitated (see swarf v.); Icelandic svarfla and svarmla ‘praecipitanter contrectare, huc illuc raptare’; also the meanings of German schwärmen to swarm, rove, riot, fall into reverie, rave. The existence of a mutated form in Old English (early West Saxon *swierm ) cannot be inferred with certainty from the late instance of swerm (Napier OE. Glosses 156/21), but such a form is found on the Continent in West Frisian swerm , Middle Low German, Middle Dutch swerm (Dutch zwerm ), Danish sværm , Swedish svärm ; compare swarm v.¹

a. A body of bees which at a particular season leave the hive or main stock, gather in a compact mass or cluster, and fly off together in search of a new dwelling-place, under the guidance of a queen (or are transferred at once to a new hive).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > swarm of bees

swarmc725

stock1568

c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) E 506 Examen, sue^arm.

a1100 Aldhelm Glosses i. 3821 in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 101/2 Examen, .i. multitudo apium, swearm ad aluearium, to hyfen.

c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 193 For neuere yet so þikke a swarm of ben Ne fleygh as Grekes gonne fro hym flen.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 7113 A swarm [Vesp. bike] of bes þar-in war bred.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 223 Þikke þowsandez..Fellen fro þe fyrmament,..Hurled in-to helle-hole as þe hyue swarmez.

c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 3380 Do no cruelte vnto þe swarm, But mekely hem gouerne.

c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1039 His hyuys hauynge redy forto take His swarmys yonge.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxvii^v If a swarme be cast late in the yere.

1603 T. Dekker 1603: Wonderfull Yeare sig. F2^v He struck so sweetely on the bottome of his copper instrument, that he would emptie whole Hiues, and leade the swarmes after him only by the sound.

1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 182 They can take swarms out of any stock that is able, and neglects to swarm, without any prejudice to the stock.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 86 When a hive sends out several swarms in the year, the first is always the best and the most numerous.

1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xix. 166 A swarm seldom..takes place except when the sun shines and the air is calm.

1864 in Notes & Queries 3rd. Ser. VI. 493/2 A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a butterfly.

1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 341 Each swarm contains not only the recently-hatched young bees, but also a portion of the old inhabitants.

b. allusively of persons who leave the original body and go forth to found a new colony or community.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > colonist or settler > [noun] > collectively

colony1555

plantation1636

swarm1659

settlement1697

settlerdom1863

1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 352 They are rather inferior than superior: but a swarm from you. You are the mother-hive. They are but a rib from your side.

1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII I. ii. 55 A new swarm of Danes came over this year [875].

1827 G. Higgins Celtic Druids 78 It is very probable that a great swarm from the hive bearing the name of Scythians may have arrived in Germany.

1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 213 The learned theory of Mr. H. Rashdall, that as Oxford was (or must have been) a swarm from Paris, so Cambridge was (or must have been) a swarm from Oxford.

2. A very large or dense body or collection; a crowd, throng, multitude. (Often contemptuous.)

a. of persons.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous

weredc725

herec855

heap971

trumec1380

multitudea1382

herda1400

swarm1423

confluence1447

puissance?a1475

army?1518

multitudine1547

bike1554

conflux1702

snarl1775

rallya1794

populace1823

hive1834

skreeda1838

skit1913

rort1941

1423 Kingis Quair clxv And euer I sawe a new[e] swarm [of folk] abound.

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 291 There shall..come leapyng foorth whole swarmes, of bothe horsemen and footemen.

1549 J. Hooper Funerall Oratyon sig. Bvij As black is contrarye vnto whyte: and the catholycke churche of Christ, to the smerm [read swerm] nd multytude of Antichriste.

c1560 T. Becon Relikes of Rome sig. C.ii A swarme of Bishoppes, to the numbre..of .iii.C.

1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B^v Farmers that crack barns, With stuffing corne, yet starue the needy swarmes.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Worc. 183/1 England in swarms did into Holland throng.

1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. 2 Cor. xi. 13 It's no wonder then if there be swarms of false Ministers, pretending to be the true Ministers of Christ.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 357 We saw what swarms of sects did rise up on our revolt from Rome.

1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington 110 Beating from the wasted vines Back to France her banded swarms.

1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 310 The onset of a second son of the same dreaded chieftain, who would sweep down with new swarms of Gauls and Spaniards from the north.

b. of insects or other small creatures, esp. flying or moving about; †rarely of large animals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > swarm

swarm1560

cloud1590

horde1613

skreeda1838

the world > life > biology > balance of nature > population > [noun] > type of

swarm1560

isotype1881

habitat group1898

guild1903

microcolony1925

thanatocœnosis1953

ecomorph1954

community1957

subpopulation1959

micropopulation1966

1560 Bible (Geneva) Exod. viii. 21 I wil send swarmes of flies bothe vpon thee, & vpon thy seruants.

a1569 A. Kingsmill Viewe Mans Estate (1580) xi. 73 There was fleshe enough to satisfie that swarme of adders, the Pharisees.

1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 39 Great swarmes of tigres, which are very hurtfull both to man and beast.

1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 51 Swarmes of a kinde of fowles of the bignes of duckes.

a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. x. 124 Locusts..in great swarms shall disperse themselves over the face of the whole earth.

1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 481 The wriggling fry soon fill the creeks around, Pois'ning the waters where their swarms abound.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 93 Many a night I saw the Pleiads,..Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.

1914 Brit. Mus.: Return 197 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 186) LXXI. 193 A swarm of cockroaches..in a house at Chislehurst.

c. of inanimate objects or abstract things. spec. (a) of asteroids or meteors (cf. meteor swarm n. at meteor n.¹ and adj.¹ Compounds 2); (b) of earthquakes; cf. also dike-swarm n. at dike n.¹ Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > large or numerous

legiona1325

rout?c1335

multitudec1350

thrave1377

cloudc1384

schoola1450

meiniec1450

throng1538

ruckc1540

multitudine1547

swarm1548

regiment1575

armya1586

volley1595

pile1596

battalion1603

wood1608

host1613

armada1622

crowd1628

battalia1653

squadron1668

raffa1677

smytrie1786

raft1821

squash1884

1548 Princess Elizabeth & J. Bale tr. Queen Margaret of Angoulême Godly Medytacyon Christen Sowle f. 11 My synnes..are so many..that the infynyte swarme of them [etc.].

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. i. 55 This swarme of faire aduantages.

1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 6 Upon this, came into her mind by swarms, all her unkind, unnatural, and ungodly Carriages to her dear Friend.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 2 Such a swarm of Vessels of greater bulk.

1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1842) I. 340 He is overpowered with a swarm of their demands.

1866 J. G. Whittier Snow-bound 33 A night made hoary with the swarm And whirl-dance of the blinding storm.

1890 Nature 20 Mar. 473/2 There are swarms of dust travelling thro' space.

1929 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us iv. 242 The asteroids occur as a single swarm.

1958 C. F. Richter Elem. Seismol. i. vi. 71 Certain localities are..visited by earthquake swarms, long series of large and small shocks with no one outstanding principal event. Such swarms are common in volcanic regions.

1959 Listener 30 July 172/2 The Trojans, whose mean distances from the Sun are the same as that of Jupiter, so that they lie far beyond the main swarm [of asteroids].

1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iii. 105 Many swarms of meteors orbit the Sun and some periodically intersect the orbit of the Earth causing meteor showers.

1979 Nature 25 Oct. 661/1 Earthquake swarms, consisting of many earthquakes of nearly equal magnitude within a small area, often occur in areas of recent or current volcanic or tectonic activity.

1981 I. Ridpath Young Astronomer's Handbk. 197/1 At various times of the year, the Earth crosses the orbits of certain comets, encountering whole swarms of meteors.

d. Biology. A cluster of free-swimming cells or unicellular organisms moving in company.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > motile or amoebic cell > cluster of

nest1871

cell nest1873

swarm1900

macula densa1942

1900 in B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms

e. Ecology. = hybrid swarm n. at hybrid n. and adj. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > swarm > hybrid swarm

hybrid swarm1926

swarm1926

1926 Nature 30 Oct. 624/1 Where a specific name has been given to a smaller group within the swarm..we may adopt this name for the minor group.

1963 P. H. Davis & V. H. Heywood Princ. Angiosperm Taxon. xiv. 483 Hybrids..may even become established and form large swarms many miles from either parent.

Compounds

C1. General attributive (cf. swarm v.¹ 1c). (a) a motile spore in certain Algæ, Fungi, and Protozoa, a zoospore; (b) the free-swimming embryo or gemmule of freshwater sponges.

swarm-formation n.

ΚΠ

1946 Nature 21 Sept. 423/1 The most important biological attribute of an outbreak centre is to provide conditions for survival and multiplication of locusts at those times when their range of dispersal is at a minimum, and also to provide conditions necessary for an increase in that range of dispersal (by swarm-formation).

1953 J. S. Huxley Evol. in Action iii. 72 At least six species [of malaria-carrying mosquitoes] must be distinguished..some mating without swarm-formation, others requiring the stimulus of swarming.

C2.

swarm-cell n. Biology = swarm-spore n. (a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > spore

sporule1819

zoocarp1824

zoospore1842

propagule1858

swarm-spore1859

macrozoospore1875

zygozoospore1881

swarm-cell1882

sporangiospore1889

planospore1904

planont1914

1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 38 Much quicker movements..occur in cells either before their growth, as in swarm-cells, or when it is nearly completed.

swarm-movement n. Biology the movement of swarm-spores in ‘swarming’ (swarm v.¹ 1c).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > [noun] > swarming

swarming1867

swarm-movement1898

1898 H. C. Porter tr. E. Strasburger et al. Text-bk. Bot. i. i. 50 The swarm-spores of the Myxomycetes soon lose this characteristic swarm-movement.

swarm-spore n. Biology

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > [noun] > free-swimming

swarm-spore1859

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > spore

sporule1819

zoocarp1824

zoospore1842

propagule1858

swarm-spore1859

macrozoospore1875

zygozoospore1881

swarm-cell1882

sporangiospore1889

planospore1904

planont1914

1859 J. R. Greene Man. Animal Kingdom I. 42 Ciliated swarm spores, similar to those which are found in Spongilla.

1874 A. W. Bennett in Pop. Sci. Rev. XIII. 29 The production of spontaneously motile zoospores, or ‘swarm-spores’.

1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. 36 The swarm-spores..are naked masses of freely moving protoplasm.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

swarmv.¹

Brit.

/swɔːm/, U.S.

/swɔrm/

Forms: Also Middle English–1600s swarme, (Middle English swerme), 1500s Scottish suarm, 1600s Scottish swairme.

Etymology: < swarm n.: compare Middle Low German, Middle High German swarmen; also, with mutation, Old English *swierman, swirman, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch swermen (Dutch zwermen), Middle High German swärmen (German schwärmen), Swedish svärma, Danish sværme.

a. intransitive. Of bees: To gather in a compact cluster and leave the hive in a body to found a new colony: see swarm n. 1. Also with off.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [verb (intransitive)] > swarm (of bees)

swarmc1386

cast?1523

knit1577

warpa1824

c1386 G. Chaucer Summoner's Prol. 29 Right so as bees out swarmen [Corpus & Camb. MSS. swermen] from an hyue.

1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 19^v Take hede to thy Bees, that be ready to swarme.

1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. E6 Those that swarme before the blowing of knap-weed, come in very good time.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 123 The youthful Prince, with loud allarm, Calls out the vent'rous Colony to swarm .

1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. iv. 71 Ye see this is the second swarm, and whiles they will swarm off in the afternoon. The first swarm set off sune in the morning.

1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 502/1 It often happens that bees give every indication of an intention to swarm, and cluster idly outside the hive..for..weeks before they really emigrate.

b. allusively: cf. swarm n. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > migration > emigration > emigrate [verb (intransitive)]

transport?c1550

transplant1608

swarm1610

emigrate1782

out-migrate1953

1610 Bible (Douay) II. 2 Macc. i. 12 He made them swarme out of Persis.

1745 Season. Adv. Protest. 17 Protestants, who from a common Ancestor..have swarmed into many Stocks.

a1854 Ld. Cockburn Memorials (1856) vii. 464 Jealousies and dissensions..induced the artists to swarm off, and begin the Academy.

1909 J. T. Fowler in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. 20 1 The number of monks increased so rapidly that they were soon obliged to swarm off, like bees, into new monasteries of the same Order.

c. Biology. Of certain spores or reproductive bodies: To escape from the parent organism in a swarm, with characteristic movement; to move or swim about in a swarm, as zoospores (‘swarm-spores’) do in the cell just before escaping, and in the water after escaping.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > [verb (intransitive)] > swarm

swarm1864

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > types of reproduction > [verb (intransitive)] > others

pullulate1777

swarm1864

proliferate1890

1864 [implied in: Reader 30 Apr. 548/3 The swarming-spores of certain Algæ. (at swarming adj. 4)].

1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 674 In Algæ of simple structure..the swarmspores are also formed in the night, but swarm only with access of daylight.

1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 232 In many of the more highly developed Thallophytes this power of motility is however limited to the male ‘swarming’ fertilising elements.

d. transitive in causative sense.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > bee-keeping > [verb (transitive)] > cause to swarm

swarm1827

1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie iv ‘Swarm your own hive’, returned the discontented bee-hunter.

2. intransitive. To come together in a swarm or dense crowd; to collect, assemble, or congregate thickly and confusedly; to crowd, throng; also, to go or move along in a crowd.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > move in a certain direction [verb (intransitive)] > move back and forth or come and go > in great numbers

swarmc1386

flocka1400

pour1574

troop1610

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > in large numbers

swarm1513

spawn1760

to throw out1772

pile1896

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of people or animals > in large numbers

thringOE

threngc1175

crowda1400

flocka1400

swarm1526

growl1542

throngc1565

shoala1618

horde1801

bike1805

fry1816

hotch1893

c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 181 Greet was the prees þat swarmeth to and fro To gauren on this hors that stondeth so.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. v. 23 Thiddir to the bray swarmit all the rout Of deid gaistis.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxi. 30 All the cite was moved, and all the people swarmed togedder.

c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. L If the dysshe be plesant,..Ten handes at onys swarme in the dysshe.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Kviii^v Al the people were swarmed furth into the stretes.

1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore i. i. 29 They swarme like Crickets to the creuice of a Brew-house.

1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 205 The religious houses sent abroad their friers mendicant, who swarmed about the kingdom.

1850 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 3) Concl. 173 The crowd were swarming now, To take their leave, about the garden rails.

1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iv. 126 The English were swarming out of this inn.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 233 The ideas swarming in men's minds.

3. To occur or exist in swarms or multitudes; to be densely crowded or congregated; to be very numerous, abound excessively. (Often in reproach or contempt, esp. when said of persons.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > abound [verb (intransitive)]

flowc1000

flower1340

abounda1350

redounda1382

swarm1399

walm1399

bound1568

pour1574

gush1577

exuberate1623

pullulate1641

hotter1860

resonate1955

1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles ii. 21 Signes þat swarmed so thikke Þoru-oute his lond..Þat [etc.].

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. liiii Their bodies whiche swarmed euery day about thenglishe shippes.

1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer Popish Kingdome iv. f. 47^v Puddings euery wheare Do swarme.

1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. F When falshood swarmeth both in old and youth.

c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 44 The Sectaries that swarm'd in this Citty.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 13 Arminians, Brownists, and Anabaptists, and Manists, do lurk here and also swarm.

1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. To Swarm..to abound, spoken of Vermin.

1745 E. Young Consolation 40 Bright Legions swarm unseen, and sing..The glorious Architect.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 239 Roman Catholics already swarmed in every department of the public service.

1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xv. 167 Native doctors swarm in Mongolia.

a. to swarm with: to be crowded or thronged with; to contain swarms or great numbers of; to abound greatly in. Now only in material sense.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > abound in or with > swarm with

wallc1000

to swarm in1482

wamble1485

scrawl1530

to swarm with1548

exceed1624

pullulate1641

sny1674

teem1710

spawn1818

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xlvi The countree swarmed with men of warre.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. vii. 49 They that swarme with much greater vices.

a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) v. sig. I Oh what are subtile meanes to clime on high? When euery fall swarmes with exceeding shame?

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. iv. 48 Her holsome hearbs Swarming with caterpillers.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 400 Each Creek & Bay With Frie innumerable swarme.

1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. ii. xiii. 101 All kinds of Animals, with which the Creation swarms.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 484 A market-place swarming with buyers and sellers.

1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 269 The river swarmed with alligators.

†b. Similarly, to swarm full of, to swarm in.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > abound in or with > swarm with

wallc1000

to swarm in1482

wamble1485

scrawl1530

to swarm with1548

exceed1624

pullulate1641

sny1674

teem1710

spawn1818

1482 Monk of Evesham 40 The lenthe of that valey..was so full of fowyls, as hyues swarmyn ful of bees.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xxxvj They shall not onely not take awaye theyr sectes, but increase and swarme in the same.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (1634) ii. iii. 127 The soule..while it swarmeth full of such diseases of vices.

1708 F. Atterbury 14 Serm. 168 The Great Lords of the Earth, who swarm in all the Delights of Sense.

5. transitive. To fill or beset as, or with, a swarm; to crowd densely, throng. Chiefly passive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > fill (a place) abundantly

fleetc1400

swarm1555

the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > completely > as a crowd

swarm1555

throng1604

crowd1645

overswarm1851

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 152^v The barbarians..came swarmyng the bankes on bothe sydes the ryuer, to the number of syxe thousande men.

1559 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Induct. lxxv The rout Gan all in heapes to swarme vs round about.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xxxii. vii Who on God his trust invokes With mercies shall be swarmed.

1648 R. Fanshawe tr. Virgil 4th Bk. Æneis in G. B. Guarini Il Pastor Fido (new ed.) 287 How did thy sences quayle Seeing the shoares so swarm'd.

1810 Sporting Mag. 35 8 Your house is so swarmed with rats.

1823 T. Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 121 Poor wretches, who marry upon the strength of this pied-à-terre, and swarm the little spot they occupy with children.

1847 Zoologist 5 1899 Brighton was swarmed with lady~birds on Saturday and Sunday.

1886 R. L. de Beaufort Lett. Geo. Sand I. 130 You will also see the towers of Notre Dame; they are swarmed with swallows.

6. To breed or produce a swarm of. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities > excessively or too easily

spawn1631

swarm1842

1842 Ld. Tennyson Will Waterproof's Monologue in Poems (new ed.) II. 192 Ere days, that deal in ana, swarm'd His [sc. the Poet's] literary leeches.

7. Skat. (See quots.)

ΚΠ

1891 L. V. Diehl Skat 27 Swarming, giving as many points as possible on tricks taken by one's partner, or which he may be expected to take.

1893 ‘Hoffmann’ tr. A. Hertefeld Game of Skat 9 Swarming:—As tricks are valuable only for the scoring cards they contain, it is a frequent practice for one of the Opponents to play a high scoring card of another suit to a trick, in the hope that such trick be won by his partner. A card so played is said to be ‘swarmed’ upon the trick.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

swarmv.²

Brit.

/swɔːm/, U.S.

/swɔrm/

Etymology: Of unascertained origin.Perhaps originally a sailor's word borrowed from the Continent, but no trace of the meaning has been discovered for phonetically corresponding words. Compare the synonymous swarve v.² and etymological remarks s.v. swarm n. Connection with squirm is out of the question, on historical and phonological grounds.

a. intransitive. To climb up (†upon) a pole, tree, or the like, by clasping it with the arms and legs alternately.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > climb up or scale > climb by clasping with legs and arms

climbc1275

swarm15..

grapple1598

swarvea1650

swarm1668

shin1891

leg1893

15.. Sir A. Barton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 72 Then he swarmd up the maine mast tree [cf. quot. a1650 at swarve v.²].

15.. Isumbras 351 (Douce 261, lf. 7) He swarued [c1550 (ed. Copland) swarmed] vp in to a tree Whyle ether of them myght other see.

1607 T. Dekker Knights Conjuring sig. B1^v The waues..boylde vp to such heigth, as if they meant that all men should swarm in heauen, and shippes to sayle in the Skie.

1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme iii. iv. §3 Swarming upon Trees as nimbly as Cats.

1701 C. Wooley Two Years Jrnl. N.-Y. 49 We followed a Bear from Tree to Tree, upon which he would swarm like a Cat.

1804 Naval Chron. 11 103 He swarms up to his seat.

1872 C. S. Calverley Fly Leaves 31 They fright me, when the beech is green, By swarming up its stem for eggs.

1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.-E. Afr. 433 I..could have swarmed up the branchless stem of the sapling.

b. transferred. To climb a steep ascent or the like by clinging with the hands and knees, or in some way compared to this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > rise or go up [verb (intransitive)] > climb > by clasping with legs and arms

swerve?1606

swarve1614

swarm1681

shin1829

shinny1888

1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake (1699) 17 Having swarm'd sevenscore paces up,..you find a kind of Floor.

1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) ii. 15 The smallest boy but one divining her intent, immediately began swarming upstairs after her—if that word of doubtful etymology be admissible—on his arms and legs.

1851 A. Helps Compan. Solitude vi. 109 People who are swarming up a difficult ascent.

1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xviii. 107 Onward she held her course, swarming steadily forward in long gliding curtseyings over each frothing surge.

2. transitive with the pole, etc. as object.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > climb up or scale > climb by clasping with legs and arms

climbc1275

swarm15..

grapple1598

swarvea1650

swarm1668

shin1891

leg1893

1668 H. More Divine Dialogues i. ii. vi. 207 Endowing them with such..Nimbleness in swarming of trees, as Apes..have now.

a1769 S. Johnson in Boswell Life Johnson (1831) IV. 451 Why, I can swarm it now, [replied D^r Johnson,..on which he ran to the tree, clung round the trunk, and ascended to the branches].

1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen 5 Like swarming the bannisters of a stair case.

1859 F. E. Paget Curate of Cumberworth 72 She rushed towards a clean-stemmed beech, apparently with the intention of swarming it.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.c725

v.¹c1386

v.²15..

单词	swarm
释义	swarmn. Brit. /swɔːm/, U.S. /swɔrm/ Forms: Old English suearm, swearm, swerm, Middle English–1600s swarme, 1500s swerm, Middle English– swarm. Etymology: Old English swearm , = Frisian, Middle Low German swarm , Old High German suar(a)m (Middle High German swarem , swarm , German schwarm ) swarm of bees or insects, Old Norse svarmr tumult (Norwegian dialect svarm ) < Germanic swarmaz . The root is usually identified with that of Sanskrit svárati* sounds, resounds, svará , svára sound, voice, and connected further with sur- in Latin susurrus hum, Middle Low German surren to hum, Middle High German surm humming, Lithuanian surmà pipe, etc. But the etymological meaning may be that of agitated, confused, or deflected movement, in which case swarm n. and swerve n. might arise from parallel formations on the same base; compare the parallelism of swarm v.² and swarve v.²; Norwegian dialect svarma to be giddy, stagger, dream, and svarva to turn, go in a circle, stagger, be agitated (see swarf v.); Icelandic svarfla and svarmla ‘praecipitanter contrectare, huc illuc raptare’; also the meanings of German schwärmen to swarm, rove, riot, fall into reverie, rave. The existence of a mutated form in Old English (early West Saxon swierm ) cannot be inferred with certainty from the late instance of swerm* (Napier OE. Glosses 156/21), but such a form is found on the Continent in West Frisian swerm , Middle Low German, Middle Dutch swerm (Dutch zwerm ), Danish sværm , Swedish svärm ; compare swarm v.¹ 1. a. A body of bees which at a particular season leave the hive or main stock, gather in a compact mass or cluster, and fly off together in search of a new dwelling-place, under the guidance of a queen (or are transferred at once to a new hive). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > swarm of bees swarmc725 stock1568 c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) E 506 Examen, sue^arm. a1100 Aldhelm Glosses i. 3821 in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 101/2 Examen, .i. multitudo apium, swearm ad aluearium, to hyfen. c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde ii. 193 For neuere yet so þikke a swarm of ben Ne fleygh as Grekes gonne fro hym flen. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 7113 A swarm [Vesp. bike] of bes þar-in war bred. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 223 Þikke þowsandez..Fellen fro þe fyrmament,..Hurled in-to helle-hole as þe hyue swarmez. c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 3380 Do no cruelte vnto þe swarm, But mekely hem gouerne. c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1039 His hyuys hauynge redy forto take His swarmys yonge. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxvii^v If a swarme be cast late in the yere. 1603 T. Dekker 1603: Wonderfull Yeare sig. F2^v He struck so sweetely on the bottome of his copper instrument, that he would emptie whole Hiues, and leade the swarmes after him only by the sound. 1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 182 They can take swarms out of any stock that is able, and neglects to swarm, without any prejudice to the stock. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 86 When a hive sends out several swarms in the year, the first is always the best and the most numerous. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xix. 166 A swarm seldom..takes place except when the sun shines and the air is calm. 1864 in Notes & Queries 3rd. Ser. VI. 493/2 A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a butterfly. 1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 341 Each swarm contains not only the recently-hatched young bees, but also a portion of the old inhabitants. b. allusively of persons who leave the original body and go forth to found a new colony or community. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > colonist or settler > [noun] > collectively colony1555 plantation1636 swarm1659 settlement1697 settlerdom1863 1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 352 They are rather inferior than superior: but a swarm from you. You are the mother-hive. They are but a rib from your side. 1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII I. ii. 55 A new swarm of Danes came over this year [875]. 1827 G. Higgins Celtic Druids 78 It is very probable that a great swarm from the hive bearing the name of Scythians may have arrived in Germany. 1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 213 The learned theory of Mr. H. Rashdall, that as Oxford was (or must have been) a swarm from Paris, so Cambridge was (or must have been) a swarm from Oxford. 2. A very large or dense body or collection; a crowd, throng, multitude. (Often contemptuous.) a. of persons. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous weredc725 herec855 heap971 trumec1380 multitudea1382 herda1400 swarm1423 confluence1447 puissance?a1475 army?1518 multitudine1547 bike1554 conflux1702 snarl1775 rallya1794 populace1823 hive1834 skreeda1838 skit1913 rort1941 1423 Kingis Quair clxv And euer I sawe a new[e] swarm [of folk] abound. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 291 There shall..come leapyng foorth whole swarmes, of bothe horsemen and footemen. 1549 J. Hooper Funerall Oratyon sig. Bvij As black is contrarye vnto whyte: and the catholycke churche of Christ, to the smerm [read swerm] nd multytude of Antichriste. c1560 T. Becon Relikes of Rome sig. C.ii A swarme of Bishoppes, to the numbre..of .iii.C. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. B^v Farmers that crack barns, With stuffing corne, yet starue the needy swarmes. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Worc. 183/1 England in swarms did into Holland throng. 1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. 2 Cor. xi. 13 It's no wonder then if there be swarms of false Ministers, pretending to be the true Ministers of Christ. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 357 We saw what swarms of sects did rise up on our revolt from Rome. 1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington 110 Beating from the wasted vines Back to France her banded swarms. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 310 The onset of a second son of the same dreaded chieftain, who would sweep down with new swarms of Gauls and Spaniards from the north. b. of insects or other small creatures, esp. flying or moving about; †rarely of large animals. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > swarm swarm1560 cloud1590 horde1613 skreeda1838 the world > life > biology > balance of nature > population > [noun] > type of swarm1560 isotype1881 habitat group1898 guild1903 microcolony1925 thanatocœnosis1953 ecomorph1954 community1957 subpopulation1959 micropopulation1966 1560 Bible (Geneva) Exod. viii. 21 I wil send swarmes of flies bothe vpon thee, & vpon thy seruants. a1569 A. Kingsmill Viewe Mans Estate (1580) xi. 73 There was fleshe enough to satisfie that swarme of adders, the Pharisees. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 39 Great swarmes of tigres, which are very hurtfull both to man and beast. 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 51 Swarmes of a kinde of fowles of the bignes of duckes. a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. x. 124 Locusts..in great swarms shall disperse themselves over the face of the whole earth. 1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 481 The wriggling fry soon fill the creeks around, Pois'ning the waters where their swarms abound. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 93 Many a night I saw the Pleiads,..Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid. 1914 Brit. Mus.: Return 197 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 186) LXXI. 193 A swarm of cockroaches..in a house at Chislehurst. c. of inanimate objects or abstract things. spec. (a) of asteroids or meteors (cf. meteor swarm n. at meteor n.¹ and adj.¹ Compounds 2); (b) of earthquakes; cf. also dike-swarm n. at dike n.¹ Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > large or numerous legiona1325 rout?c1335 multitudec1350 thrave1377 cloudc1384 schoola1450 meiniec1450 throng1538 ruckc1540 multitudine1547 swarm1548 regiment1575 armya1586 volley1595 pile1596 battalion1603 wood1608 host1613 armada1622 crowd1628 battalia1653 squadron1668 raffa1677 smytrie1786 raft1821 squash1884 1548 Princess Elizabeth & J. Bale tr. Queen Margaret of Angoulême Godly Medytacyon Christen Sowle f. 11 My synnes..are so many..that the infynyte swarme of them [etc.]. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. i. 55 This swarme of faire aduantages. View more context for this quotation 1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 6 Upon this, came into her mind by swarms, all her unkind, unnatural, and ungodly Carriages to her dear Friend. View more context for this quotation 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 2 Such a swarm of Vessels of greater bulk. 1785 E. Burke Speech Nabob Arcot's Debts in Wks. (1842) I. 340 He is overpowered with a swarm of their demands. 1866 J. G. Whittier Snow-bound 33 A night made hoary with the swarm And whirl-dance of the blinding storm. 1890 Nature 20 Mar. 473/2 There are swarms of dust travelling thro' space. 1929 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us iv. 242 The asteroids occur as a single swarm. 1958 C. F. Richter Elem. Seismol. i. vi. 71 Certain localities are..visited by earthquake swarms, long series of large and small shocks with no one outstanding principal event. Such swarms are common in volcanic regions. 1959 Listener 30 July 172/2 The Trojans, whose mean distances from the Sun are the same as that of Jupiter, so that they lie far beyond the main swarm [of asteroids]. 1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iii. 105 Many swarms of meteors orbit the Sun and some periodically intersect the orbit of the Earth causing meteor showers. 1979 Nature 25 Oct. 661/1 Earthquake swarms, consisting of many earthquakes of nearly equal magnitude within a small area, often occur in areas of recent or current volcanic or tectonic activity. 1981 I. Ridpath Young Astronomer's Handbk. 197/1 At various times of the year, the Earth crosses the orbits of certain comets, encountering whole swarms of meteors. d. Biology. A cluster of free-swimming cells or unicellular organisms moving in company. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > motile or amoebic cell > cluster of nest1871 cell nest1873 swarm1900 macula densa1942 1900 in B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms e. Ecology. = hybrid swarm n. at hybrid n. and adj. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > swarm > hybrid swarm hybrid swarm1926 swarm1926 1926 Nature 30 Oct. 624/1 Where a specific name has been given to a smaller group within the swarm..we may adopt this name for the minor group. 1963 P. H. Davis & V. H. Heywood Princ. Angiosperm Taxon. xiv. 483 Hybrids..may even become established and form large swarms many miles from either parent. Compounds C1. General attributive (cf. swarm v.¹ 1c). (a) a motile spore in certain Algæ, Fungi, and Protozoa, a zoospore; (b) the free-swimming embryo or gemmule of freshwater sponges. swarm-formation n. ΚΠ 1946 Nature 21 Sept. 423/1 The most important biological attribute of an outbreak centre is to provide conditions for survival and multiplication of locusts at those times when their range of dispersal is at a minimum, and also to provide conditions necessary for an increase in that range of dispersal (by swarm-formation). 1953 J. S. Huxley Evol. in Action iii. 72 At least six species [of malaria-carrying mosquitoes] must be distinguished..some mating without swarm-formation, others requiring the stimulus of swarming. C2. swarm-cell n. Biology = swarm-spore n. (a). ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > spore sporule1819 zoocarp1824 zoospore1842 propagule1858 swarm-spore1859 macrozoospore1875 zygozoospore1881 swarm-cell1882 sporangiospore1889 planospore1904 planont1914 1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 38 Much quicker movements..occur in cells either before their growth, as in swarm-cells, or when it is nearly completed. swarm-movement n. Biology the movement of swarm-spores in ‘swarming’ (swarm v.¹ 1c). ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > [noun] > swarming swarming1867 swarm-movement1898 1898 H. C. Porter tr. E. Strasburger et al. Text-bk. Bot. i. i. 50 The swarm-spores of the Myxomycetes soon lose this characteristic swarm-movement. swarm-spore n. Biology ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > [noun] > free-swimming swarm-spore1859 the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > reproductive substances or cells > [noun] > spore sporule1819 zoocarp1824 zoospore1842 propagule1858 swarm-spore1859 macrozoospore1875 zygozoospore1881 swarm-cell1882 sporangiospore1889 planospore1904 planont1914 1859 J. R. Greene Man. Animal Kingdom I. 42 Ciliated swarm spores, similar to those which are found in Spongilla. 1874 A. W. Bennett in Pop. Sci. Rev. XIII. 29 The production of spontaneously motile zoospores, or ‘swarm-spores’. 1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. 36 The swarm-spores..are naked masses of freely moving protoplasm. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022). swarmv.¹ Brit. /swɔːm/, U.S. /swɔrm/ Forms: Also Middle English–1600s swarme, (Middle English swerme), 1500s Scottish suarm, 1600s Scottish swairme. Etymology: < swarm n.: compare Middle Low German, Middle High German swarmen; also, with mutation, Old English swierman, swirman, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch swermen* (Dutch zwermen), Middle High German swärmen (German schwärmen), Swedish svärma, Danish sværme. 1. a. intransitive. Of bees: To gather in a compact cluster and leave the hive in a body to found a new colony: see swarm n. 1. Also with off. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [verb (intransitive)] > swarm (of bees) swarmc1386 cast?1523 knit1577 warpa1824 c1386 G. Chaucer Summoner's Prol. 29 Right so as bees out swarmen [Corpus & Camb. MSS. swermen] from an hyue. 1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 19^v Take hede to thy Bees, that be ready to swarme. 1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. E6 Those that swarme before the blowing of knap-weed, come in very good time. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 123 The youthful Prince, with loud allarm, Calls out the vent'rous Colony to swarm . View more context for this quotation 1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. iv. 71 Ye see this is the second swarm, and whiles they will swarm off in the afternoon. The first swarm set off sune in the morning. 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 502/1 It often happens that bees give every indication of an intention to swarm, and cluster idly outside the hive..for..weeks before they really emigrate. b. allusively: cf. swarm n. 1b. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > migration > emigration > emigrate [verb (intransitive)] transport?c1550 transplant1608 swarm1610 emigrate1782 out-migrate1953 1610 Bible (Douay) II. 2 Macc. i. 12 He made them swarme out of Persis. 1745 Season. Adv. Protest. 17 Protestants, who from a common Ancestor..have swarmed into many Stocks. a1854 Ld. Cockburn Memorials (1856) vii. 464 Jealousies and dissensions..induced the artists to swarm off, and begin the Academy. 1909 J. T. Fowler in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. 20 1 The number of monks increased so rapidly that they were soon obliged to swarm off, like bees, into new monasteries of the same Order. c. Biology. Of certain spores or reproductive bodies: To escape from the parent organism in a swarm, with characteristic movement; to move or swim about in a swarm, as zoospores (‘swarm-spores’) do in the cell just before escaping, and in the water after escaping. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > movement > [verb (intransitive)] > swarm swarm1864 the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > types of reproduction > [verb (intransitive)] > others pullulate1777 swarm1864 proliferate1890 1864 [implied in: Reader 30 Apr. 548/3 The swarming-spores of certain Algæ. (at swarming adj. 4)]. 1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 674 In Algæ of simple structure..the swarmspores are also formed in the night, but swarm only with access of daylight. 1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 232 In many of the more highly developed Thallophytes this power of motility is however limited to the male ‘swarming’ fertilising elements. d. transitive in causative sense. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > bee-keeping > [verb (transitive)] > cause to swarm swarm1827 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie iv ‘Swarm your own hive’, returned the discontented bee-hunter. 2. intransitive. To come together in a swarm or dense crowd; to collect, assemble, or congregate thickly and confusedly; to crowd, throng; also, to go or move along in a crowd. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > move in a certain direction [verb (intransitive)] > move back and forth or come and go > in great numbers swarmc1386 flocka1400 pour1574 troop1610 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > go or come out [verb (intransitive)] > in large numbers swarm1513 spawn1760 to throw out1772 pile1896 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of people or animals > in large numbers thringOE threngc1175 crowda1400 flocka1400 swarm1526 growl1542 throngc1565 shoala1618 horde1801 bike1805 fry1816 hotch1893 c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 181 Greet was the prees þat swarmeth to and fro To gauren on this hors that stondeth so. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. v. 23 Thiddir to the bray swarmit all the rout Of deid gaistis. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxi. 30 All the cite was moved, and all the people swarmed togedder. c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. L If the dysshe be plesant,..Ten handes at onys swarme in the dysshe. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Kviii^v Al the people were swarmed furth into the stretes. 1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore i. i. 29 They swarme like Crickets to the creuice of a Brew-house. 1764 R. Burn Hist. Poor Laws 205 The religious houses sent abroad their friers mendicant, who swarmed about the kingdom. 1850 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 3) Concl. 173 The crowd were swarming now, To take their leave, about the garden rails. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iv. 126 The English were swarming out of this inn. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 233 The ideas swarming in men's minds. 3. To occur or exist in swarms or multitudes; to be densely crowded or congregated; to be very numerous, abound excessively. (Often in reproach or contempt, esp. when said of persons.) ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > abound [verb (intransitive)] flowc1000 flower1340 abounda1350 redounda1382 swarm1399 walm1399 bound1568 pour1574 gush1577 exuberate1623 pullulate1641 hotter1860 resonate1955 1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles ii. 21 Signes þat swarmed so thikke Þoru-oute his lond..Þat [etc.]. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. liiii Their bodies whiche swarmed euery day about thenglishe shippes. 1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer Popish Kingdome iv. f. 47^v Puddings euery wheare Do swarme. 1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. F When falshood swarmeth both in old and youth. c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 44 The Sectaries that swarm'd in this Citty. a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 13 Arminians, Brownists, and Anabaptists, and Manists, do lurk here and also swarm. 1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. To Swarm..to abound, spoken of Vermin. 1745 E. Young Consolation 40 Bright Legions swarm unseen, and sing..The glorious Architect. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 239 Roman Catholics already swarmed in every department of the public service. 1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xv. 167 Native doctors swarm in Mongolia. 4. a. to swarm with: to be crowded or thronged with; to contain swarms or great numbers of; to abound greatly in. Now only in material sense. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > abound in or with > swarm with wallc1000 to swarm in1482 wamble1485 scrawl1530 to swarm with1548 exceed1624 pullulate1641 sny1674 teem1710 spawn1818 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xlvi The countree swarmed with men of warre. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. vii. 49 They that swarme with much greater vices. a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) v. sig. I Oh what are subtile meanes to clime on high? When euery fall swarmes with exceeding shame? 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. iv. 48 Her holsome hearbs Swarming with caterpillers. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 400 Each Creek & Bay With Frie innumerable swarme. View more context for this quotation 1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. ii. xiii. 101 All kinds of Animals, with which the Creation swarms. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 484 A market-place swarming with buyers and sellers. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 269 The river swarmed with alligators. †b. Similarly, to swarm full of, to swarm in. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > abound in or with > swarm with wallc1000 to swarm in1482 wamble1485 scrawl1530 to swarm with1548 exceed1624 pullulate1641 sny1674 teem1710 spawn1818 1482 Monk of Evesham 40 The lenthe of that valey..was so full of fowyls, as hyues swarmyn ful of bees. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xxxvj They shall not onely not take awaye theyr sectes, but increase and swarme in the same. 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (1634) ii. iii. 127 The soule..while it swarmeth full of such diseases of vices. 1708 F. Atterbury 14 Serm. 168 The Great Lords of the Earth, who swarm in all the Delights of Sense. 5. transitive. To fill or beset as, or with, a swarm; to crowd densely, throng. Chiefly passive. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > make abundant [verb (transitive)] > fill (a place) abundantly fleetc1400 swarm1555 the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > completely > as a crowd swarm1555 throng1604 crowd1645 overswarm1851 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 152^v The barbarians..came swarmyng the bankes on bothe sydes the ryuer, to the number of syxe thousande men. 1559 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Induct. lxxv The rout Gan all in heapes to swarme vs round about. a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xxxii. vii Who on God his trust invokes With mercies shall be swarmed. 1648 R. Fanshawe tr. Virgil 4th Bk. Æneis in G. B. Guarini Il Pastor Fido (new ed.) 287 How did thy sences quayle Seeing the shoares so swarm'd. 1810 Sporting Mag. 35 8 Your house is so swarmed with rats. 1823 T. Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 121 Poor wretches, who marry upon the strength of this pied-à-terre, and swarm the little spot they occupy with children. 1847 Zoologist 5 1899 Brighton was swarmed with lady~birds on Saturday and Sunday. 1886 R. L. de Beaufort Lett. Geo. Sand I. 130 You will also see the towers of Notre Dame; they are swarmed with swallows. 6. To breed or produce a swarm of. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > [verb (transitive)] > produce or bring forth > with ease, speed, or success, or in large quantities > excessively or too easily spawn1631 swarm1842 1842 Ld. Tennyson Will Waterproof's Monologue in Poems (new ed.) II. 192 Ere days, that deal in ana, swarm'd His [sc. the Poet's] literary leeches. 7. Skat. (See quots.) ΚΠ 1891 L. V. Diehl Skat 27 Swarming, giving as many points as possible on tricks taken by one's partner, or which he may be expected to take. 1893 ‘Hoffmann’ tr. A. Hertefeld Game of Skat 9 Swarming:—As tricks are valuable only for the scoring cards they contain, it is a frequent practice for one of the Opponents to play a high scoring card of another suit to a trick, in the hope that such trick be won by his partner. A card so played is said to be ‘swarmed’ upon the trick. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022). swarmv.² Brit. /swɔːm/, U.S. /swɔrm/ Etymology: Of unascertained origin.Perhaps originally a sailor's word borrowed from the Continent, but no trace of the meaning has been discovered for phonetically corresponding words. Compare the synonymous swarve v.² and etymological remarks s.v. swarm n. Connection with squirm is out of the question, on historical and phonological grounds. 1. a. intransitive. To climb up (†upon) a pole, tree, or the like, by clasping it with the arms and legs alternately. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > climb up or scale > climb by clasping with legs and arms climbc1275 swarm15.. grapple1598 swarvea1650 swarm1668 shin1891 leg1893 15.. Sir A. Barton in Surtees Misc. (1890) 72 Then he swarmd up the maine mast tree [cf. quot. a1650 at swarve v.²]. 15.. Isumbras 351 (Douce 261, lf. 7) He swarued [c1550 (ed. Copland) swarmed] vp in to a tree Whyle ether of them myght other see. 1607 T. Dekker Knights Conjuring sig. B1^v The waues..boylde vp to such heigth, as if they meant that all men should swarm in heauen, and shippes to sayle in the Skie. 1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme iii. iv. §3 Swarming upon Trees as nimbly as Cats. 1701 C. Wooley Two Years Jrnl. N.-Y. 49 We followed a Bear from Tree to Tree, upon which he would swarm like a Cat. 1804 Naval Chron. 11 103 He swarms up to his seat. 1872 C. S. Calverley Fly Leaves 31 They fright me, when the beech is green, By swarming up its stem for eggs. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.-E. Afr. 433 I..could have swarmed up the branchless stem of the sapling. b. transferred. To climb a steep ascent or the like by clinging with the hands and knees, or in some way compared to this. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > rise or go up [verb (intransitive)] > climb > by clasping with legs and arms swerve?1606 swarve1614 swarm1681 shin1829 shinny1888 1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake (1699) 17 Having swarm'd sevenscore paces up,..you find a kind of Floor. 1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) ii. 15 The smallest boy but one divining her intent, immediately began swarming upstairs after her—if that word of doubtful etymology be admissible—on his arms and legs. 1851 A. Helps Compan. Solitude vi. 109 People who are swarming up a difficult ascent. 1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xviii. 107 Onward she held her course, swarming steadily forward in long gliding curtseyings over each frothing surge. 2. transitive with the pole, etc. as object. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > climb up or scale > climb by clasping with legs and arms climbc1275 swarm15.. grapple1598 swarvea1650 swarm1668 shin1891 leg1893 1668 H. More Divine Dialogues i. ii. vi. 207 Endowing them with such..Nimbleness in swarming of trees, as Apes..have now. a1769 S. Johnson in Boswell Life Johnson (1831) IV. 451 Why, I can swarm it now, [replied D^r Johnson,..on which he ran to the tree, clung round the trunk, and ascended to the branches]. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen 5 Like swarming the bannisters of a stair case. 1859 F. E. Paget Curate of Cumberworth 72 She rushed towards a clean-stemmed beech, apparently with the intention of swarming it. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c725v.¹c1386v.²15..
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swarmn.

Compounds

swarmv.1

swarmv.2

swarmv.¹

swarmv.²