congregate

American  

[kong-gri-geyt, kong-gri-git, -geyt] / ˈkɒŋ grɪˌgeɪt, ˈkɒŋ grɪ gɪt, -ˌgeɪt /

verb (used without object)

congregated, congregating

1. to come together; assemble, especially in large numbers.

   People waiting for rooms congregated in the hotel lobby.

   Synonyms:

   cluster, throng, collect, gather

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verb (used with object)

congregated, congregating

1. to bring together in a crowd, body, or mass; assemble; collect.

adjective

1. congregated; assembled.

2. formed by collecting; collective.

congregate British  

verb

1. to collect together in a body or crowd; assemble

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adjective

1. collected together; assembled

2. relating to collecting; collective

Other Word Forms

• congregative adjective
• congregativeness noun
• congregator noun
• decongregate verb
• noncongregative adjective
• uncongregated adjective
• uncongregative adjective

Etymology

Origin of congregate

1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin congregātus (past participle of congregāre to flock together), equivalent to con- con- + greg- (stem of grex ) flock + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

With only a handful of halfpipes in the world, the best snowboarders congregate for month-long training sessions, but scatter back to their homes to reset between the camps.

From Los Angeles Times

County Parks and Recreation, immediately started to address the dearth of places to congregate after the fires.

From Los Angeles Times

Any additional cleanups are “to be determined” and must rely on the other forms of interim housing like congregate shelters.

From Los Angeles Times

Groups of men congregate in conference, smoking and whispering on the lawns.

From Literature

He explained that, if seals have smaller areas of sea ice available to them, they will congregate in those smaller areas, presenting easier collective pickings for bears.

From BBC

Related Words

• bunch up
• converge
• flock
• gather
• swarm
• throng