Gaggle
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water. collective
"The Canada geese always flew over the 80 acre lake; it was a landmark on their route and a stopping point for many a gaggle, where many hours were spent after feeding in the farmers' fields."
- 2 a flock of geese wordnet
- 3 Any group or gathering of related things, particularly one perceived as noisy, boisterous or chaotic. broadly
"A gaggle of gays—probably no more than 15 or so, but from our perspective there seemed to be literally scores of them—pranced, skipped and otherwise just plain camped their way into the last few rows of seats."
- 4 Short for press gaggle: an informal briefing of journalists. abbreviation, alt-of
"Last week, Mr. Trump told the [Christian Science] Monitor during a gaggle with reporters that there were “about four” other states where Republicans should redraw the maps besides Texas."
- 5 A group of women. collective, historical
- 1 To make a noise like a goose; to cackle.
"Geese do gaggle"
- 2 make a noise characteristic of a goose wordnet
Example
More examples"A gaggle of intoxicated youths stopped to ponder whether there is an Opposite Day in Bizarro World."
Etymology
From Middle English gagelen (“to cackle; cackle like a goose”). Compare Dutch gaggelen (“to cackle”), Icelandic gagl (“small goose; gosling”), Norwegian Nynorsk gagl (“wild goose”).
Related phrases
More for "gaggle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.