throng

/ˈthrȯŋ/

Middle English throng, thrang "mass, press," going back to Old English *thrang or gethrang (with ge-, collective prefix), going back to West Germanic *þrang- (whence Middle Dutch gedranc "crowd, press," dranc, drang "pressure," Old High German gidrang "crowd, mass"), noun ablaut derivative from the base of Germanic *þrengan-,*þrenhan- "to press" (whence Old Saxon thringan "to press, urge," Old High German dringan, thringan, Old Norse þryngva "to press, crowd," Gothic þreihan), going back to dialectal Indo-European *trenk- "press," whence also Lithuanian trenkiù, treñkti "to push roughly, fling"

noun

  1. a multitude of assembled persons

  2. a large number : host

  3. a crowding together of many persons

crowd throng horde crush mob mean an assembled multitude. crowd implies a close gathering and pressing together. throng and horde suggest movement and pushing.

verb

  1. to crowd upon : press

  2. to crowd into : pack

  3. to crowd together in great numbers

a celebrity thronged by fans