throng

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a large gathering of people
  2. verb press tightly together or cram

Etymology

From Middle English throng, thrang, from Old English þrang, ġeþrang (“crowd, press, tumult”), from Proto-Germanic *þrangwą, *þrangwō (“throng”), from *þrangwaz (“pressing, narrow”), from *þrinhwaną (“to press, to push; to force”), from Proto-Indo-European *trenkʷ- (“to beat; pound; hew; press”). Cognate with Dutch drang, German Drang. Compare also German Gedränge (“throng”) and Persian ترنجیدن (Trenjidan, “to beat, to push”). Compare typologically crowd (see there for more).

In classic literature

Synonyms

multitude, concourse

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