Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - swarm

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English swearm; akin to Old High German swaram ~ and probably to Latin susurrus hum  Date: before 12th century  1.  a. a great number of honeybees emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere  b. a colony of honeybees settled in a hive  2.  a. a large number of animate or inanimate things massed together and usually in motion ; throng ~s of sightseers a ~ of locusts a ~ of meteors  b. a number of similar geological features or phenomena close together in space or time a ~ of dikes an earthquake ~  II. verb  Date: 14th century  intransitive verb  1. to form and depart from a hive in a ~  2.  a. to move or assemble in a crowd ; throng  b. to hover about in the manner of a bee in a ~  3. to contain a ~ ; teem ~ing with bugs  transitive verb  1. to fill with a ~  2. to beset or surround in a ~ players ~ing the quarterback  • ~er noun  III. verb  Etymology: origin unknown  Date: 14th century  intransitive verb to climb with the hands and feet; specifically shin ~ up a pole  transitive verb to climb up ; mount