gaggle
/ˈɡaɡ(ə)l
/noun
1A flock of geese.It is also a popular watering hole to gaggles of geese which fly in from time to time....
- These failures become apparent through the absence of first-year birds in the winter gaggles.
- Along with gaggles of Canada Geese, we saw our first groups of Brant.
2 informal A disorderly group of people: the gaggle of photographers that dogged his every step...
- Ten minutes from the ground and you could already feel the unmistakable hum of a huge gaggle of excited people gathered together.
- Yes, she'll miss the glamour, the gaggle of schoolgirls crowding round for autographs.
- Today, it involves federal courts, a gaggle of sturdy lawyers or both.
Origin
Middle English (as a verb): imitative of the noise that a goose makes; compare with Dutch gaggelen and German gackern.
Gaggle as in gaggle of geese, originally imitated the noise that a goose makes. Many word were invented in the 15th century for groups of people or animals; unlike most of the others, gaggle was actually adopted in use.