swarmeth

Verb

swarm (third-person singular simple present swarms, present participle swarming, simple past and past participle swarmed)

1. (intransitive) To move as a swarm.
   • There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors.1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   horde

2. (intransitive) To teem, or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
   • Every place swarming with soldiers.1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […]...
3. (transitive) To fill a place as a swarm.
   • All is well until Treorchy, where the platform is swamped by teenagers who have been attending an event. Around four dozen unescorted 12 to 16 year-olds swarm aboard and begin to run riot through the train. Their behaviour is appalling and the presence of CCTV no deterrent.2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 48
4. (transitive) To overwhelm as by an opposing army.
   • So, yeah. The overall conclusion of the big gunfight being that, if Yamato is able to tackle the Colorados early, then the Japanese probably have a, maybe a sixty-to-sixty-five-percent chance of pulling this off... although you say "pulling it off", it's more a case of "the Japanese are the last...2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 37:59 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2022
5. To climb by gripping with arms and legs alternately.
   • At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it.1784, William Coxe, Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark
6. To breed multitudes.
   • Not ſo thick ſwarm'd once the Soil / Bedropt with blood of Gorgon,1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

See all 10 meanings of swarm