crowd

A crowd is a large gathering of people. The presence of a crowd can be good or bad, depending on your personal interest in the situation:

• There was such a large crowd gathered for the parade, we couldn’t find a parking space.
• The owners of the store were thrilled to see a large crowd inside their store during the sale.
• We’ll have to get to the fair early in order to beat the crowds.
• A crowd of people formed around two men fighting in the street.
• We had a large crowd over for dinner last night.
• The man on stage remarked that he had a good crowd watching his performance.
• Politicians know how to work a crowd. (work a crowd = meet and talk among a large group of people)

The words "crowd" or "crowded" can be used as an adjective or as part of a compound noun:

• These appetizers a real crowd pleaser. (crowd pleaser = something that most people like)
• Let’s get out of here. It’s too crowded.
• When the room gets crowded, the temperature goes up from all the body heat.
• The police were called in for crowd control following the soccer game.
• Crowdfunding is a new method of raising money online for special purposes.

You can also use the word "crowd" as a verb:

• A group of people crowded around the movie star as she walked through the street.
• Stop crowding me! You’re too close.
• Don’t crowd the man. Give him some space.
• The pitcher almost hit the batter with a baseball because he was crowding the plate. (To crowd the plate in baseball is to stand too close to home plate.)

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July 17, 2016