n (1)一群(蜂等)(large number of insects，other small creatures，etc，esp bees)[C]：a～of ants/mosquitoes 一群蚂蚁/蚊子;～s of microbes 许许多多微生物;A～of locusts destroyed the crop. 一群蝗虫毁掉了庄稼。There are thousands of bees in the～that has settled in the tree. 成千上万只蜜蜂成群地栖落在大树上。Saturn's rings consist of a～of ice-covered particles. 土星光环是由大量冰雪裹复的微粒构成的。〖同〗cloud，mass，press，crowd;

(2)大群(量)的人(great number of people or crowd)[C，常pl]：S～s of children were playing on the beach. 一群群儿童在海滩上玩耍。A～of fans ran onto the football field. 一群球迷跑到足球场上。His friends came in a～to congratulate him. 他的朋友成群结队前来向他祝贺。〖同〗cloud，mass，press，host，crowd;

v (1)(蜜蜂)成群而飞((of bees) follow a queen bee in a swarm)[I]：When bees～，hundreds of them come together in a great mass. 当蜜蜂离巢时，几百只蜜蜂飞成一片。Look at all those bees—they must be～ing. 看看那些蜜蜂，它们肯定是成群而飞。The bees～ed about in the orchard. 蜜蜂在果园里成群地飞来飞去。

(2)蜂拥而至，云集(move or gather in large numbers)[I，I+prep，I+adv]：The people～ed to see the play. 人们蜂拥般地去看戏。When the bell rang the children～ed into the classroom/out of the school/to the spot/onto the field. 铃响的时候，孩子们拥入教室/拥出学校/拥向现场/拥向赛场。The sightseers～ed over the park. 观光者遍布整个公园。The mob～ed by as we stood there. 当我们站在那里的时候，这群乌合之众走了过去。crowds～ing in the streets 云集大街的人群;〖同〗flock，throng，crowd，cluster，rush，mass;

(3)挤满(be overrun or filled)[I+prep (with)]：a river～ing with alligators 鳄鱼密布的河流;The stable (room) was～ing with insects/flies. 马厩(房间)里到处是虫子/苍蝇。The streets～ed with tourists/strang-ers. 街上挤满了游客/陌生人。

【说明】swarm 偶有及物用法，如：Millions of tourists～ed Grand Canyon Park last year. 去年数以百万计的旅游者拥入科罗拉多大峡谷公园。

【辨异】swarm与crowd、throng和multitude的区别见CROWD。