throng

 
Pronunciation: /θrɒŋ/

noun

  • a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals: he pushed his way through the throng a throng of birds

verb

[with object]
  • (of a crowd) fill or be present in (a place or area): a crowd thronged the station the pavements are thronged with people
  • [no object, with adverbial of direction] flock or be present in great numbers: tourists thronged to the picturesque village

Origin:

Old English (ge)thrang 'crowd, tumult', of Germanic origin. The early sense of the verb (Middle English) was 'press violently, force one's way'