flock

noun

1. A number of birds together in a group, such as those gathered together for the purpose of migration.
2. A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of sheep, but (dated) also used for goats, farmed animals, and a wide variety of animals.

   “He told his father, and said it would be just suitable work for him to run about fields and woods amongst the strawberry hills after a flock of hares, and now and then lie down and take a nap on some sunny hill.”

   “Into the trees / Past meadow grounds / And further away from my home / Baying behind me / I hear the hounds / Flock's chasing to find me alone / A trail of sickness / Leading to me / If I am haunted / Then you will see”

   “My parents kept a flock of sheep. When Andy and I married in 1990, I brought 11 sheep descended from my father's flock to Andy's family's dairy farm.”

3. Those served by a particular pastor or shepherd.

   “But lapsed into so long a pause again / As half amazed, half frighted all his flock: [...]”

   “I also have other sheep that are not from this pen. I must lead them. They, too, will respond to my voice. So they will be one flock with one shepherd.”

4. A large number of people.

   “The heathen […] came to Nicanor by flocks.”

5. A religious congregation.
6. (countable, uncountable)Coarse tufts of wool or cotton used in bedding.
7. (countable, uncountable)A lock of wool or hair.

   “I prythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the point.”

8. (countable, uncountable)Very fine sifted woollen refuse, especially that from shearing the nap of cloths, formerly used as a coating for wallpaper to give it a velvety or clothlike appearance; also, the dust of vegetable fibre used for a similar purpose.

   “There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.”

verb

1. (intransitive)To congregate in or head towards a place in large numbers.

   “People flocked to the cinema to see the new film.”

   “What place the gods for our repose assigned. Friends daily flock; and scarce the kindly spring Began to clothe the ground”

   “Given the poor state of the line's trains and schedules, it is remarkable that people flock to use or experience it in embarrassingly large numbers.”

2. (obsolete, transitive)To flock to; to crowd.

   “Good fellows, trooping, flocked me so.”

3. (transitive)To coat a surface with dense fibers or particles; especially, to create a dense arrangement of fibers with a desired nap.

   “the sampling and elution advantages of flocked swabs versus spun swabs”

4. (transitive)To cover a Christmas tree with artificial snow.
5. (transitive)To treat a pool with chemicals to remove suspended particles.

name

1. A surname.