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gaggle

 - 3 dictionary results

gag⋅gle

  [gag-uhl] verb, -gled, -gling, noun
Use gaggle in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to cackle.
–noun
2. a flock of geese when not flying. Compare skein.
3. an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering: a politician followed by a gaggle of supporters.
4. an assortment of related things.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME gagelen (v.), gagel (n.); of imit. orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gaggle
gag·gle   (gāg'əl)   
n.  

  1. A flock of geese. See Synonyms at flock1.

  2. A cluster or group: "A gaggle of photographers huddled on the sidewalk beside a swelling crowd of onlookers" (Gioia Diliberto).


[Middle English gagel, from gagelen, to cackle, probably of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

gaggle 
c.1470, gagyll, with ref. to both geese and women. Barnhardt says possibly from O.N. gagl "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 (cf. Du. gagelen "to chatter;" M.E. gaggle "to cackle," used of geese, attested from 1399).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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