What does "crowd" mean?
A group of people congregated or collected into a close body without order.
Crowd
/kɹaʊd/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A group of people congregated or collected into a close body without order.
- Grammar: crowd is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: multitude, throng, press, public.
- Useful contrasts: allowed room, clear graph, equal gaps.
- Usage evidence: The excited crowd poured out of the stadium.
How to use "crowd"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "crowd" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "crowd" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "crowd" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "crowd" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "crowd" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "multitude" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "crowd", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A group of people congregated or collected into a close body without order.
"After the movie let out, a crowd of people pushed through the exit doors."
- 2 Alternative form of crwth. alt-of, alternative, obsolete
"A lackey that […] can warble upon a crowd a little."
- 3 a large number of things or people considered together wordnet
- 4 Several things collected or closely pressed together; also, some things adjacent to each other.
"There was a crowd of toys pushed beneath the couch where the children were playing."
- 5 A fiddle. dialectal
"That keep their Consciences in Cases, / As Fiddlers do their Crowds and Bases,[…]"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 an informal body of friends wordnet
- 7 The so-called lower orders of people; the populace; the vulgar. with-definite-article
"He went not, with the Crowd, to ſee a Shrine;"
- 8 A group of people united or at least characterised by a common interest.
"That obscure author's fans were a nerdy crowd which hardly ever interacted before the Internet age."
Verb
- 1 To press forward; to advance by pushing. intransitive
"The man crowded into the packed room."
- 2 To play on a crowd; to fiddle. intransitive, obsolete
"Fiddlers, crowd on, crowd on."
- 3 to gather together in large numbers wordnet
- 4 To press together or collect in numbers. intransitive
"They crowded through the archway and into the park."
- 5 cause to herd, drive, or crowd together wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 To press or drive together, especially into a small space; to cram. transitive
"He tried to crowd too many cows into the cow-pen."
- 7 approach a certain age or speed wordnet
- 8 To fill by pressing or thronging together transitive
"The balconies and verandas were crowded with spectators, anxious to behold their future sovereign."
- 9 fill or occupy to the point of overflowing wordnet
- 10 To push, to press, to shove. often, transitive
"They tried to crowd her off the sidewalk."
- 11 To approach another ship too closely when it has right of way.
- 12 To carry excessive sail in the hope of moving faster. transitive
"With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, fights ’gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward; seeks all the lashed sea’s landlessness again; for refuge’s sake forlornly rushing into peril; her only friend her bitterest foe!"
- 13 To press by solicitation; to urge; to dun; hence, to treat discourteously or unreasonably. transitive
Antonyms
allowed roomclear graphequal gapsgiven space
Example
"The excited crowd poured out of the stadium."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "crowd"?
Common synonyms include: multitude, throng, press, public, horde, a great number.
How do you use "crowd" in a sentence?
The excited crowd poured out of the stadium.
How do you pronounce "crowd"?
Pronounced /kɹaʊd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English crouden, from Old English crūdan, from Proto-West Germanic *krūdan, from Proto-Germanic *krūdaną, *kreudaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *grewt- (“to push; press”). Cognate with German Low German kroden (“to push, shove”), Dutch kruien (“to push, shove”).
Etymology 2
Inherited from Middle English crowde, from Welsh crwth or a Celtic cognate.