swarm

Etymology

From Middle English swarm, from Old English swearm (“swarm, multitude”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarm, from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (“swarm, dizziness”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Swoorm (“swarm”), Dutch zwerm, German Schwarm, Danish sværm, Swedish svärm, Icelandic svarmur (“tumult, swarm”), Latin susurrus (“whispering, humming”), Lithuanian surma (“a pipe”), Russian свире́ль (svirélʹ, “a pipe, reed”). The verb is from Middle English swarmen, swermen, from Old English swierman (“to swarm”), from Proto-West Germanic *swarmijan, from Proto-Germanic *swarmijaną (“to swarm”), from the noun. Cognate with Scots swairm, swerm (“to swarm”), Dutch zwermen, German schwärmen, Danish sværme, Swedish svärma.

noun

1. A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.
2. A mass of people, animals or things in motion or turmoil.
   a swarm of meteorites
3. (computing) A group of nodes sharing the same torrent in a BitTorrent network.

verb

1. (intransitive) To move as a swarm.
2. (intransitive) To teem, or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
3. (transitive) To fill a place as a swarm.
4. (transitive) To overwhelm as by an opposing army.
   So, yeah. The overall conclusion of the big gunfight being that, if Yamato is able to tackle the Colorados early, then the Japanese probably have a, maybe a sixty-to-sixty-five-percent chance of pulling this off... although you say "pulling it off", it's more a case of "the Japanese are the last battleship standing"; they tend to then just get swarmed by angry Fletchers[…] 6 March 2019, Drachinifel, 37:59 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 2022-07-20
5. To climb by gripping with arms and legs alternately.
   At the top was placed a piece of money, as a prize for those who could swarm up and seize it. 1784, William Coxe, Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark
6. To breed multitudes.