gaggle
Syllables: gag·gle/ˈɡæɡl̩/
gaggle noun: a group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water; other groups of birds. Also the abbreviation of press gaggle.
Noun
gaggle (plural gaggles)
- A group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water; other groups of birds.
- 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.2011, Denise A. White, The Goose and the Crone, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 11
- They're only referred to as a gaggle when they're on land. When they're flying in formation they can be referred to as a skein.2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC
- Any group or gathering of related things, particularly one perceived as noisy, boisterous or chaotic.
- 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.1972 November 24, [W]ill [A]itken, “boys in the back: or how a movie made me come out”, in Nigel Gibson, editor, The McGill Daily, volume 62, number 48, Quebec, via Internet Archive, The Review
- There were no signs and no one quite knew how to navigate the museum, including, as it was Fleet Week, gaggles of boyish sailors all in their summer whites. It looked like a Frank Sinatra movie.2014 June 7, Vicki Woods, “Sadness, and a surprise, at the 9/11 Museum”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 01 Jul 2014, page 24
- Synonyms:
- bunch
- A group of women.
Verb
gaggle (third-person singular simple present gaggles, present participle gaggling, simple past and past participle gaggled)
- To make a noise like a goose; to cackle.
- Geese do gaggle1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
- When a friend asked Socrates, how he could bear the scolding of his wife Xantippe? he retorted, and asked him, how he could bear the gaggling of his geese?1733, Jonathan Swift, "A New Simile for the Ladies with Useful Annotations by Dr. Sheridan", note 7 (in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol. II)
Also used as
gaggle is also the abbreviation of press gaggle.
Examples of gaggle in a sentence
- The party level ramps up at Thornaby, where a gaggle of women on a 50th birthday bash join us.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:
- The away end was duly packed out and ringed, sternly, by a gaggle of widely jeered Metropolitan police.2025 March 1, Barney Ronay, “Crystal Palace through after Millwall keeper’s red for head-high tackle on Mateta”, in The Guardian:
Synonyms of gaggle
Forms of gaggle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | gaggles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | gaggles |
| present participle | gaggling |
| past participle | gaggled |
| past | gaggled |
Origin of gaggle
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”).
Words formed from gaggle
Words that rhyme with gaggle
Questions about gaggle
- What does gaggle mean?
- Gaggle means a group of geese when they are on the ground or on the water; other groups of birds.
- How do you use gaggle in a sentence?
- The party level ramps up at Thornaby, where a gaggle of women on a 50th birthday bash join us.
- What part of speech is gaggle?
- Gaggle can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce gaggle?
- Gaggle is pronounced /ˈɡæɡl̩/.
- What is the plural of gaggle?
- The plural of gaggle is gaggles.
Words near gaggle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gaggle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-gaggle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gaggle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gaggle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.