throng |THrôNG, THräNG|

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

verb [ with obj. ] (of a crowd) fill or be present in (a place or area): a crowd thronged the station | the streets are thronged with people. • [ no obj. ] 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.’