List of collective nouns for fish, invertebrates, and plants
Appearance
Also see Collective noun
The square root signs, √, below signify a widespread usage in both North American English and Commonwealth English.
SUBJECT | COLLECTIVE TERM | |
ants | A colony of ants | |
ants | A swarm of ants | |
ants | An army of ants | |
bacteria | A culture of bacteria | |
beans | A hill of beans | |
bees | A grist of bees | |
bees | A hive of bees | |
bees | A swarm of bees | |
blackfish | A grind of blackfish | Uncertain |
butterflies | A kaleidoscope of butterflies | Uncertain |
butterflies | A rabble of butterflies | Uncertain |
butterflies | A rainbow of butterflies | |
caterpillars | An army of caterpillars | |
clams | A bed of clams | |
cockroaches | An intrusion of cockroaches | Uncertain |
cod | A lap of cod | Uncertain |
eels | A fry of eels | Uncertain |
eels | A swarm of eels | |
figs | A newton of figs | Spurious |
fish | A draught of fish | |
fish | A drift of fish | |
fish | A scale of fish | |
fish | A school of fish | |
fish | A shoal of fish | |
flowers | A bouquet of flowers | |
flowers | A patch of flowers | |
flies | A business of flies | |
flies | A swarm of flies | |
gnats | A cloud of gnats | |
gnats | A clout of gnats | Uncertain |
gnats | A horde of gnats | |
grapes | A bunch of grapes | |
grasshoppers | A cloud of grasshoppers | |
grasshoppers | A cluster of grasshoppers | |
herrings | A glean of herrings | |
jellyfish | A fluther of jellyfish | |
jellyfish | A smack of jellyfish | |
locusts | A plague of locusts | |
midges | A bite of midges | Uncertain |
mites | A mite of mites | Uncertain |
mosquitoes | A scourge of mosquitoes | |
oysters | A bed of oysters | |
salmon | A bind of salmon | |
salmon | A run of salmon | |
shark | A shiver of sharks | Uncertain |
shrimp | A troup of shrimp | |
snail | A rout of snails | |
spiders | A cluster of spiders | |
spiders | A clutter of spiders | |
trees | A grove of trees | |
trees | A copse of trees | |
trees | A stand of trees | |
trees | A thicket of trees | |
trout | A hover of trout | |
worms | A clew of worms | Uncertain |