1
a
: a great number of honeybees emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere
b
: a colony of honeybees settled in a hive
2
a
: a large number of animate or inanimate things massed together and usually in motion : throng
swarms of sightseers
a swarm of locusts
a swarm of meteors
b
: a number of similar geologic features or phenomena close together in space or time
a swarm of dikes
an earthquake swarm
swarmed; swarming; swarms
1
: to form and depart from a hive in a swarm
2
a
: to move or assemble in a crowd : throng
b
: to hover about in the manner of a bee in a swarm
3
: to contain a swarm : teem
swarming with bugs
1
: to fill with a swarm
2
: to beset or surround in a swarm
players swarming the quarterback
swarmer
noun
Examples of swarm in a Sentence
Noun
a swarm of tourists descends upon the island every summer
Verb (1)
meeting little resistance, the pirates swarmed the decks of the merchant ship
at this time of year that Mexican resort swarms with college students on spring break
Verb (2)
one of the physical challenges had competitors swarming over a pile of logs
Recent Examples on the Web
Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
This powerful synergy enhances detection, tracking, classification, and identification while also enabling autonomous drone swarm operations, including self-organizing collaboration.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Chaotic scenes then unfold as dozens of protesters swarmed the area and confronted the federal agents, the footage shows.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swarm
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Noun
The 2032 pass of the hypothetical swarm will arrive from the nighttime side of the Earth, at which point Boslough said the probability of an impact or airburst might be higher than average.
—Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
This powerful synergy enhances detection, tracking, classification, and identification while also enabling autonomous drone swarm operations, including self-organizing collaboration.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
This program plays defense with swarming, complex ferocity.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Chaotic scenes then unfold as dozens of protesters swarmed the area and confronted the federal agents, the footage shows.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swarm
Cite this Entry
“Swarm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swarm. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
swarm
1 of 2 noun1
: a great number of honeybees leaving together from a hive with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere
also
: a colony of honeybees settled in a hive
2
: a large number grouped together and usually in motion
swarms of sightseers
a swarm of meteors
swarm
2 of 2 verb1
: to form and leave a hive in a swarm
2
: to move or gather in a swarm : throng
spectators swarmed into the stadium
3
: to contain or fill with a swarm
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