Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of moving in a swarm, as bees from a hive.
  • noun In botany, a method of reproduction observed in some of the Confervaceæ and Desmidiaceæ, in which the granules constituting the green matter become detached from one another and move about in their cells; then the external membrane swells and bursts, and the granules issue forth into the water to become new plants.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The action of a swarm.
  • noun colloquial, Canada A crime where an unsuspecting innocent bystander is attacked by several culprits at once, with no known motive.
  • verb Present participle of swarm.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • For many, the answer has come in "swarming", a practice where hundreds of aliens line up on one side of the border, dozens of Border Patrol on the other, and everyone runs like hell, figuring that at least a few will get through.

    Between a rock and a hard place 2000

  • For many, the answer has come in "swarming", a practice where hundreds of aliens line up on one side of the border, dozens of Border Patrol on the other, and everyone runs like hell, figuring that at least a few will get through.

    Between a rock and a hard place 2000

  • With Santonio Holmes 'punt returns setting up two touchdown runs by Troy Smith, and the defense swarming from the second play on, the Buckeyes rolled over San Diego State 27-6 on Saturday.

    USATODAY.com - Scores 2005

  • Such swarming is most apt to occur on a warm, humid afternoon with little wind that in turn occurs 24 hours after at least a moderate rainfall.

    Ant Eaters 2003

  • I thought Derrick McKey did a good job in swarming the basketball to take away the passer's vision, then he was able to get back and get his hands on Murray's shot.

    National Basketball Association - Pacers vs. Cavaliers 2001

  • However, by the 1960s, new forms of covert regime change emerged along the lines that RAND studies called "swarming" - the idea being to develop social manipulation techniques or disruptive outbreaks short of wars or violent uprisings.

    Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Full Spectrum Dominance:" Part I 2009

  • However, by the 1960s, new forms of covert regime change emerged along the lines that RAND studies called "swarming" - the idea being to develop social manipulation techniques or disruptive outbreaks short of wars or violent uprisings.

    Printing: Reviewing F. William Engdahl's "Full Spectrum Dominance:" Part I 2009

  • However, by the 1960s, new forms of covert regime change emerged along the lines that RAND studies called "swarming" - the idea being to develop social manipulation techniques or disruptive outbreaks short of wars or violent uprisings.

    unknown title 2009

  • If you’re interested in swarming, I highly recommend this book along with Godin’s Tribes and Addison’s Movements that change the world.

    What’s in your Kindle? 2009

  • A camera tracks the wasps' movements, and those images are fed into a software program that measures food-searching behavior - what nonscientists would call swarming.

    NYT > Home Page By AMY WALLACE 2011

  • A popular TikTok account appears to have encouraged its followers to report me en masse, a common online tactic called swarming.

    Opinion | The Enduring, Invisible Power of Blond By 2023

  • Savior swarming: An overwhelming flow of concentrated collective action, motivated by an uninformed desire to help, escalated by algorithmically-mediated communications.

    When Kindness Kills William R. Frey 2024

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