gaggle
pronunciation
How to pronounce gaggle in British English:
UK [ˈgægl]
How to pronounce gaggle in American English:
US [ˈɡæɡəl]
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- Noun:
- a flock of geese
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- Verb:
- make a noise characteristic of a goose
Word Origin
- gaggle (n.)
- late 15c., gagyll, with reference to both geese and women (on the notion of "chattering company"). Barnhart says possibly from Old Norse gagl "small goose, gosling, wild goose;" OED calls it "one of the many artificial terms invented in the 15th c. as distinctive collectives referring to particular animals or classes of persons." Possibly of imitative origin (compare Dutch gagelen "to chatter;" Middle English gaggle "to cackle," used of geese, attested from late 14c.). The loosened general sense of "group of people" is from 1946.
Example
- 1. A gaggle of gurus delivers a harsh verdict .
- 2. Beneath them are a gaggle of smaller partnerships .
- 3. A gaggle of photographers and journalists met their car kerbside and her husband was whisked away to a press conference .
- 4. A gaggle of even more senior ones were asked to retire-and immediately won cushy , lucrative jobs at quasi-public agencies and private foundations .
- 5. But then , when a gaggle of pedestrians appeared , he jammed the protective hat on his head and dashed into the building .