group

group

I

group¹ S1 W1 /ɡruːp/ noun [countable]1. [also + plural verb British English] several people or things that are all together in the same place
    group of
    a group of children
    a small group of islands
    Get into groups of four.
    He was surrounded by a group of admirers.
    in groups
    Dolphins travel in small groups.
    A group of us are going to London.
2. several people or things that are connected with each other:
    a left-wing terrorist group
    group of
    She is one of a group of women who have suffered severe side-effects from the drug.
    age/ethnic/income etc group (=people of the same age, race etc)
    Minority groups are encouraged to apply.
3. several companies that all have the same owner ⇨ chain:
    a giant textiles group
    group of
    He owns a group of hotels in southern England.
4. a number of musicians or singers who perform together, playing popular music
   SYN  band
⇨ blood group, focus group, interest group, playgroup, pressure group, working group
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meanings 1 & 2)

■ phrases
   ▪ a member of a group/a group member Frank was invited to be a member of the group.
   ▪ a group of three, four, five etc There was a group of three at the bar, two men and a woman.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + group
   ▪ an age group Older people are being affected by the economic downturn more than other age groups.
   ▪ an ethnic group (=one whose members belong to a particular race or nation) The university welcomes enquiries and applications from all ethnic groups.
   ▪ a minority group (=one whose members belong to a different race, religion etc from most other people in a country) Conditions for many minority groups have worsened.
   ▪ a racial group Schools should not stereotype pupils from certain racial groups as troublemakers.
   ▪ a social group (=a group of people from a particular class in society) Lower social groups had a higher average family size.
   ▪ an income group The budget will affect people differently, according to their income group.
   ▪ sb’s peer group (=people of the same age, social group etc) Many girls at school derive enormous strength from their peer groups.
   ▪ a pressure group (=one that tries to make the government do something) Friends of the Earth is Britain’s leading environmental pressure group.
   ▪ a protest group They formed a protest group and a petition of 50,000 signatures was presented at the town hall.
   ▪ a splinter group (=that has separated from another political or religious group) A Social Democratic Party ( SDP), formed as a splinter group of the Socialist Party of Serbia.
   ▪ a close-knit/closely-knit/tightly-knit group (=in which everyone knows each other well and gives each other support) The young mothers in the village are a fairly close-knit group.
   ▪ a support group (=a group that meets in order to help the people in it deal with a difficult time) She set up a support group for people suffering from the same illness.
   ▪ a control group (=a group used in an experiment or survey to compare its results with those of another group) A control group had to be examined as well as the group that we are studying.
■ group + NOUN
   ▪ a group decision Being involved in a group decision can help motivate workers.
   ▪ a group discussion The course includes both individual work and group discussions.
   ▪ a group leader There were three groups of eight people, each with a group leader.
■ verbs
   ▪ belong to a group Ben belonged to an environmental group.
   ▪ get into groups The teacher asked the students to get into groups.
   ▪ organize something into groups Small children work best when they are organized into very small groups.
   ▪ join a group He joined a self-help group for divorced men.
   ▪ leave a group Rebecca left the group following a disagreement.
     

COLLOCATIONS

(for Meaning 4)

■ NOUN + group
   ▪ a pop/rock/jazz group They’re one of the most exciting pop groups around at the moment.
■ phrases
   ▪ a member of a group Jeremy was a member of a heavy metal group.
   ▪ be in a group She's in a jazz group, playing the saxophone.
■ verbs
   ▪ start a group Ben and some friends started a rock group at school.
   ▪ found a group formal (=start a group) Mick Jagger and Keith Richards founded the group in the early Sixties.
   ▪ a group splits up (=the members decide not to play together anymore) The group split up because of ‘musical differences’.
   ▪ a group re-forms (=the members decide to play together again) The group has re-formed and is planning a series of comeback concerts.
     

THESAURUS

■ of people
   ▪ group several people together in the same place: A group of boys stood by the school gate. | Arrange yourselves in groups of three.
   ▪ crowd a large group of people who have come to a place to do something: There were crowds of shoppers in the streets. | The crowd all cheered.
   ▪ mob a large, noisy, and perhaps violent crowd: An angry mob of demonstrators approached.
   ▪ mass a large group of people all close together in one place, so that they seem like a single thing: The square in front of the station was a solid mass of people.
   ▪ bunch informal a group of people who are all similar in some way: They’re a nice bunch of kids.
   ▪ gang a group of young people, especially a group that often causes trouble and fights: He was attacked by a gang of youths.
   ▪ rabble a noisy group of people who are behaving badly: He was met by a rabble of noisy angry youths.
   ▪ horde a very large group of people who all go somewhere: In summer hordes of tourists flock to the island. | There were hordes of people coming out of the subway.
   ▪ crew a group of people who all work together, especially on a ship or plane: the ship’s crew | The flight crew will serve drinks shortly.
   ▪ party a group of people who are travelling or working together: A party of tourists stood at the entrance to the temple.
■ of animals
   ▪ herd a group of cows, deer, or elephants: A herd of cows was blocking the road.
   ▪ team a group of people who work together: She is being cared for by a team of doctors.
   ▪ flock a group of sheep or birds: a flock of seagulls | The farmer has over 100 sheep in his flock.
   ▪ pack a group of dogs or wolves: Some dogs are bred to work in packs.
   ▪ litter a group of kittens or puppies born at one time to a particular mother: He was one of a litter of seven puppies.
   ▪ school/shoal a group of fish or dolphins: Piranha fish live in shoals in the wild.
■ of things
   ▪ bunch a group of things held or tied together, especially flowers or keys: He handed me a bunch of daffodils.
   ▪ bundle several papers, clothes, or sticks held or tied together in an untidy pile: Bundles of papers and files filled the shelves.
   ▪ cluster a group of things of the same kind that are close together in a place: a cluster of stars | Our road ended at a cluster of cottages.

II

group² verb
1. [intransitive and transitive] to come together and form a group, or to arrange things or people together in a group
    group (something) together/round/into etc
    The photo shows four men grouped round a jeep.
    Different flowers can be grouped together to make a colourful display.
    small producers who group together to sell their produce
2. [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to divide people or things into groups according to a system:
    We were grouped into six age bands.
    We’ve grouped the questions under three headings.