This is in a part of our one word substitution posts and vocabulary building post. We will discuss here important collective nouns, and word groups.
Collective Nouns
| ambush of tigers |
| anthology of poems |
| army of caterpillars |
| army/column/state/swarm/nest of ants |
| army/company/detachment/muster/parade/regiment of soldiers |
| army/gleam/shoal of herring |
| array of hedgehogs |
| bale/turn of turtles |
| band of gorillas |
| band of musicians |
| bank/drift/eyrar/gaggle/gargle/herd/whiteness of swans bevy/wedge of swans (in flight) |
| bask of crocodiles |
| basket of fruits |
| batch of boys |
| bellowing of bullfinches |
| bench of magistrates/judges |
| bevy of girls/ladies/lass |
| bevy of roe (deer) |
| bevy/covey/drift of quail |
| bevy/exaltation of larks |
| bevy/family of otters |
| bloat/pod of hippos |
| board of directors or trustees |
| box of cigars |
| brace of pistol |
| brace/leash/pack of greyhounds |
| brood/clutch/peep/flock of chickens/hens |
| brood/fluther/smuck of jellyfish |
| brood/pack/covey of grouse |
| brook/bevy/head/ostentation/pride/nye of pheasants |
| budget of news and letters |
| bunch/knob of waterfowl |
| bunch/posy of plantains, keys |
| bunch/posy/bouquet/nosegay/garland/wreath of flowers |
| bunch/posy/cluster of grapes |
| bunch/trip/plump/knob of wildfowl |
| bundle/faggot of sticks |
| bundle/triss of hay or straw |
| bunting of flags |
| bury/colony/nest/warren of rabbits |
| business/cloud/scraw/swarm of flies |
| busyness/cast/fesynes of ferrets |
| caravan of pilgrims |
| caravan of travellers |
| caravan/company/syndicate of merchants |
| caravan/flock/string of camels |
| cartload/pack/span/barren of mules |
| cast of falcons |
| cast of hawks |
| cellar of wine |
| century of years, sonnets, inventions etc |
| cete/colony of badgers |
| chain of students |
| chain/range of mountains |
| charm of finches |
| charm/chattering/chirp/drum of goldfinch |
| chatter of budgerigars |
| chattering of choughs |
| chattering/crowd/murmation of starlings |
| chowder/clowder/cluster/glaring of cats |
| clan/hover/murder of crows |
| clank of hired applauders |
| clique/colony/concourse/crowd/multitude/throng/gathering of people |
| cloud of grasshoppers |
| cloud/flight of locusts |
| clump of grass, hair, bushes etc. |
| clump/grove of bamboos |
| clump/grove of trees |
| cluster of houses |
| cluster of nuts |
| cluster of spectators |
| cluster/clutter of spiders |
| cluster/galaxy/constellation of stars |
| cluster/group of islands |
| cluster/swarm/drift/hive/erst of bees |
| clutch of eggs |
| code of laws |
| collection of relics, curiosities |
| colony of rats |
| colony/school/herd/pod/gam/gain of whales |
| company of actors |
| company/labour/movement/mumble of moles |
| company/trip of wigeon |
| congregation/assembly of worshippers |
| congregation/flight/stand/wing of plovers |
| congress of representatives |
| consignment/stock of goods |
| convocation of eagles |
| corps/herd/troop/kalaedescope of giraffes |
| cottle of slaves |
| council of advisers |
| couple of (two) persons |
| course of lectures |
| covert of coots |
| covey of partridges |
| covey of ptarmigan |
| covey/fall/flight/plump of woodcock |
| cowardice/pack/kennel of dogs |
| crash of rhinoceros |
| crew of sailors (working a ship) |
| crowd of ibis |
| deceit/desert of lapwings |
| den/pit/nest of snakes |
| descent of woodpeckers |
| dopping of sheldrake |
| dout/destruction of wild cats |
| down/drove/husk/lie/trip/mute of hares |
| dozen of things |
| drey of squirrels |
| drift/herd/sounder of swine |
| drove of bullocks |
| dule/raffle/rafter of turkeys |
| earth/lead/skulk of foxes |
| fall of snow, rain |
| fall/shower of rain |
| family of members, sardines |
| farrow of piglets |
| fleet of ships |
| flight of arrows |
| flight of stairs, steps |
| flight of swallows |
| flight/dole/piteousness/prettying of doves |
| flight/swarm of insects |
| fling of dunlins |
| flock of ostrich |
| flock/flight/pod/volery of birds |
| flock/herd/trip/mob of sheep |
| flock/herd/trip/tribe of goats |
| flock/pride/sawt/souse/troop of lions |
| flotilla/forest of boats, small ships |
| flurry/regiment/skein of flamingos |
| gaggle of geese (on land) skein/team/wedge of geese (in flight) flock/skein of geese |
| galaxy of beauties |
| gallery of pictures |
| gang of prisoner, robbers, thieves, convicts, workmen, dacoits, slaves, labourer |
| heap of sand, stone |
| heap/mass of ruins |
| herbarium of dried plants |
| herd of cranes |
| herd of curlew |
| herd of wrens |
| herd/drove of cattle |
| herd/gang of elk |
| herd/gang/obstinancy of buffalo |
| herd/mob of deer |
| herd/mob/troop of kangaroos |
| herd/nest/pledge of wasps |
| herd/pace of asses |
| herd/parade of elephants |
| hill of ruffs |
| hoard of silver, money |
| horde of pirates, savages |
| host of angles |
| host/chain of men |
| host/surration/quarrel of sparrows |
| house of senators |
| hover of trout |
| kit of pigeons (in flight) flock of pigeons |
| knab/knot of toads |
| league of nations, states, powers |
| leap/lepe of leopards |
| legion of devils |
| library/pile of books |
| litter of cubs |
| litter of pups or puppies |
| litter of whelps |
| litter/herd of pigs |
| litter/kindle of kittens |
| lock/fell of hair shack of shaggy hair |
| mass of ruins, snow, rocks, people etc. |
| match/puddling/watch of nightingales |
| mob of rioters |
| museum of art |
| muster of peacocks |
| muster/parcel/rookery of penguins |
| mutation of thrush |
| nursery of plants |
| nursery of raccoons |
| nest of mice |
| pack of liars, journalists |
| pack of playing cards |
| pack/cry/kennel of hounds |
| pack/rout of wolves |
| packet of cigarettes |
| paddling of ducks (on water) safe/waddling/badelyng or badling of ducks (on land) team of ducks (in flight) |
| pair of shoes |
| pandemonium of parrots |
| panel of jurymen |
| parliament/building/clamour/rookery of rooks |
| parliament/stare of owls |
| peal of beels |
| pencil of rays |
| pile of arms |
| pile of debts |
| pile of wood |
| pod/harem/herd/rookery of seals |
| pod/school of dolphins |
| pod/school/herd/turmoil of porpoises |
| posse of constables |
| quiver/sheaf/shower of arrows |
| rabble of butterflies |
| rabble of ill-bred, disorderly people |
| rag/rake of colts |
| regiment of workers |
| retinue/train of followers |
| richesse of martens |
| rush/flight of pochards |
| scattering/sedge/siege of herons |
| school of thinkers or learned men |
| series of events |
| set of articles |
| set of chairs |
| set of tools |
| sheaf of cora; grain |
| shoal/school/haul/run/catch of fishes |
| shrewdness of apes |
| sloth of bears |
| sord/suit of mallard |
| sounder of wild boar |
| spring of teal |
| squadron/stack of cavalry |
| stack of corn |
| staff of officials or servants |
| string of lies |
| string/rope of pearls |
| stud of mares |
| suit/pile of clothes |
| suite of rooms, furniture or attendants |
| swarm of eels |
| swarm/cloud of gnats |
| team of players, cricketers |
| team/harras/drove of horses troop/squadron of horses rag of horses (for colts) stud of horses (a group kept primarily for breeding or racing) string of horses (a group belonging to or used by one individual) |
| team/train cricketers |
| tiding/tittering of magpies |
| tissue of lies, crimes |
| torrent of abuse, criticism |
| train of wagons, carriages |
| trip of dotterel |
| troop of baboons |
| troop of monkeys |
| troop/squadron of artilleries |
| troubling of goldfish |
| troupe of artists |
| unkindness of ravens |
| volley of shots, bullets |
| walk/wisp/whisper/wish of snipe |
| yoke/team of oxen |
| zeal of zebras |
Collective names in basic science
| pile of nuclear physicists |
| grid of electrical engineers |
| set of pure mathematicians |
| field of theoretical physicists |
| amalgamation of metallurgists |
| line of spectroscopists |
| knot of nautical engineers |
| labyrinth of communication engineers |
| exhibition of Nobel Prize winner |
| intrigue of council members |
| dissonance of faculty members |
| stack of librarians |
| coagulation of colloid chemists |
| galaxy of cosmologists |
| cloud of theoretical meteorologists |
| shower of applied meteorologists |
| litter of geneticists |
| chain of security officers |
| complex of psychologists |
| wing of ornithologists |
| branch of fermentation chemists |
| colony of bacteriologists |
Word groups
Religion
| theist – one who believes in existence of god |
| atheist – one who denies the existence of god |
| agnostic – one who accepts that he/she doesn’t know about the existence or non-existence of god [Note: agonistic means scrappy; aggressive while antagonistic means showing dislike or opposition] |
| monotheist – the belief there is only one god |
| pantheism – the belief that all creation itself is god |
| polytheist – belief that there are many god |
| theology – study of religion |
People
| spectators – at a match |
| crowd – in a street or open place or public place |
| mob – in a riot |
| listener – in a broadcasting program |
| rabble – a disorderly crowd; a mob. |
Doctors
| cardiologist – treats heart related problems |
| dermatologist – treats problems related to skin |
| oncologist – treats cancer related problems |
| pediatrician – treats children, infants and adolescent |
Hobbies and traits of person
| philatelist – collector of stamps |
| numismatist – collector of coin [Note: numismatic (adj) – relating to or consisting of coins or medals] |
| glutton – one who loves to eat |