List of Collective Nouns By Collective Term A-K

This is a list of Standard English collective nouns. The large number of collective nouns in English is based on a tradition of venery which arose in the Late Middle Ages.

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Standard terms for particular groups are listed first in each group and shown in bold.

Subject Collective Noun Notes Sources
A A !
alligators congregation
antelope herd
ants army
bike
colony
nest
swarm
apes shrewdness
troop
asses herd
coffle a roped line
drove driven in a group
pace or passe
auks colony on land
flock at sea
raft on water
avocets colony
B B !
baboons troop
badgers cete
colony
barbels shoal
bats cloud
colony
bears sleuth or sloth
beavers colony
family
bees swarm
colony
erst
grist
birds flock
dissimulation fanciful
fleet
flight
parcel
pod
volary in an aviary
bishops bench
bison herd
bitterns sedge or sege
siege
boars (male pigs) herd See also hogs, pigs, swine
singular
boars (wild boars) sounder 12 or more
boys blush
buffalo herd
gang
bullfinches bellowing
bullocks drove driven in a group
bursars cheat
bustards flock
butlers draught
butterflies flight
rabble
buzzards wake
C C !
capercaillie tok
capons mews
caribou herd
cats clowder
cluster or clutter
glaring
pounce
cats (wild cats) destruction
caterpillars army
cattle herd
drove
chickens brood
clutch
peep
choughs chattering or clattering
civil servants file
cobblers drunkenship or drunkship
colts rag
rake
cormorants gulp
cooks hastiness
coots covert
coyotes pack
cranes herd
sedge or sege
crocodiles bask
float
crows murder
curlews herd
D D !
deer herd
bunch
mob
parcel
rangale
dogs pack
dogfish troop
dolphins pod
school
team
dotterel trip
doves dole or dule fanciful
flight
piteousness fanciful
ducks flock
badling
brace
bunch on water
paddling on water
plump
raft on water
skein in flight
sord or sore
string in flight
team in flight
waddling
dunlins fling
E E !
eagles convocation
eels bed
swarm
elephants herd
elk gang
F F !
ferrets business corruption over time of 'busyness'
busyness
fesnyng
finches charm or chirm
fish school
shoal
flamingoes stand
flies business
cloud
swarm
foresters stalk
foxes leash
skulk
frogs army
G G !
geese flock on land
gaggle on land
plump flying close
skein in flight
team in flight
wedge in flight
giraffes herd
corps
tower
gnats cloud
horde
rabble
swarm
goats flock
herd
tribe
trip or trippe
gods pantheon See Pantheon
goldfinches charm
goosanders dopping
gorillas band
whoop
goshawks flight
grasshoppers cloud
swarm
grouse covey
pack
guineafowl rasp
H H !
hares down
drove
flick
husk
hawks boil two or more spiralling in flight
cast
kettle flying in large numbers
lease
harts herd
hedgehogs array
herons sedge or sege
siege
hermits observance
hippopotamuses bloat
hogs parcel See also boars, pigs, swine
horses team in harness
band
haras or harrase
herd
stable
string
stud
hounds pack
cry
hunt
meet
mute
stable
hyenas cackle
I I !
ibex herd
ibises colony
iguanas mess
insects flight
horde
plague
rabble
swarm
J J !
jackdaws train
jays band
party
scold
jellyfish fluther
smack
K K !
kangaroos mob
troop
L L !
lapwings deceit or desert
larks bevy
exaltation
leopards leap or lepe
lions pride
sawt
M M !
mackerel shoal
magpies charm
congregation
gulp
murder
tiding
tittering
mallard brace
flush
puddling
sord
suit or sute
mares stud
martens richesse or richness
mice nest
mischief
trip
minnows shoal
moles company
labor or labour
monkeys barrel
cartload
tribe
troop
wilderness
moorhens plump
moose herd
mosquitoes scourge
mudhens fleet
mules barren
pack
rake
span
N N !
nightingales watch
nuns superfluity
O O !
owls parliament
oxen drove
team
yoke
P P !
parrots company
pandemonium
partridges covey
peacocks muster
ostentation
pride
pelicans pod
pheasants bouquet
head
nest
nide
nye
pigs drift See also boars, hogs, swine
drove
pipers poverty
pigeons kit flying together
plovers congregation
stand
wing
Q Q !
quail bevy
covey
drift
R R !
raccoons gaze
ravens unkindness
rhinoceroses crash
rooks building
parliament
S S !
salmon bind
draught
run
sandpipers fling
seals herd
pod
rookery
sheep flock
down
drift when driven in a group
drove when driven in a group
herd
hurtle
meinie
mob
parcel
trip
sheldrake dopping
snails escargatoire
rout
walk
snakes bed
den
knot
nest
pit
snipe walk
whisp or wisp
sparrows host
meinie
tribe
spiders cluster or clutter
squirrels colony
dray
scurry
starlings chattering
clattering
cloud
congregation
murmuration
stoats pack
trip
storks flight
mustering
phalanx when migrating
swallows flight
gulp
swans bank on the ground
bevy
drift
eyrar
flight
game
herd
lamentation fanciful
sownder
team
wedge in flight
whiting
swifts flock
scream
swine doylt See also boars, hogs, pigs
drift
trip
T T !
teal spring
tigers ambush
streak
toads knot
nest
trout hover
turkeys gang
rafter
turtles bale
dole
nest
turtle doves dole or dule
pitying
U U !
V V !
vipers nest
W W !
walruses herd
pod
waterfowl bunch
knob
raft
weasels colony
pack
whales gam
herd
mob
pod
wigeons company
trip
wildfowl bunch
knob fewer than 30
plump
trip
wolves pack
rout or route when in movement
woodcocks fall
woodpeckers descent
wrens herd
X X !
Y Y !
Z Z !
zebras herd
cohort
zeal
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See also References

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, collective, nouns and/or term:

    Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives—from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango—with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to- date scripts for actors on the tourists’ stage.
    Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)

    Love’s boat has been shattered against the life of everyday. You and I are quits, and it’s useless to draw up a list of mutual hurts, sorrows, and pains.
    Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930)

    One of the weaknesses in the cooperative is that it has never been sufficiently leavened by the imagination. This is a quick-silver faculty, and likely to be a cause of worry to any collective settlement.
    Edward Dahlberg (1900–1977)

    Children and savages use only nouns or names of things, which they convert into verbs, and apply to analogous mental acts.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Why did you give no hint that night
    That quickly after the morrow’s dawn,
    And calmly, as if indifferent quite,
    You would close your term here, up and be gone
    Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)