Definition
a group of people meeting together
View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary
Origin and usage
The noun gathering is formed from the verb ‘gather’ plus the suffix ‘-ing’. It has been used in English since the earliest days of the language.
Examples
New government regulations restrict social gatherings in the UK to no more than six people, except in certain very limited and specific circumstances. Gathering is also an adjective meaning ‘gradually increasing’. It is marked ‘mainly literary’ and collocates with nouns like darkness, dusk and gloom. A gathering storm is a difficult situation that is coming, as well as literally a storm that is coming. The noun gathering is one of the more than 4500 entries from the Macmillan Collocations Dictionary that have recently been integrated into Macmillan Dictionary. These entries provide an abundance of very clear information on the different collocates of a word divided according to grammatical categories and semantic groups. You can explore the entry for gathering here.
Quotations
“Dr Davies has been invited to speak at a number of prestigious gatherings.”
(Macmillan Dictionary)
“Anyone organising a gathering (such as a rave or house party) of more than 30 could face a £10,000 fine.”
(manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
Related words
assemblage, collection, huddle, throng
Browse related words in the Macmillan Thesaurus.
