Definition

Verb (phrasal verb): 1. To gather or cluster closely into a compact group or mass. 2. To move or stand very close to one another, often for comfort, safety, or due to external pressure.

Usage

This phrasal verb describes the action of multiple separate items or people coming together to form a tight, often irregular, group. It implies a lack of orderly arrangement and emphasizes closeness and collective grouping.

Examples

• People:
• Animals:
• Objects:

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: Can describe abstract things coming into close association.
  • Several related issues bunched together to create a major crisis for the administration.

Variants and Related Words

• Bunch (verb): To form or gather into a tight cluster. (e.g., )
• Bunch (noun): A number of things, typically of the same kind, growing or fastened together. (e.g., )
• Bunch up (phrasal verb): Very similar to "bunch together," often used when the grouping causes wrinkling or gathering of material.
  • Your socks are all bunched up inside your boots.

Synonyms

• Cluster together
• Huddle together
• Congregate
• Gather
• Crowd together

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Huddle together: To crowd together closely, especially for warmth or secrecy. (Often implies more purposeful gathering for a specific reason than "bunch together.")
  • The team huddled together to discuss the final play.
• Cluster together: To come together in a small, close group. (Similar meaning, can sound slightly more formal or descriptive.)
  • The houses cluster together at the foot of the hill.

Related Idioms

• Pack together like sardines: To be forced into an extremely tight space with many others. (A more vivid and idiomatic expression for extreme crowding.)
  • We were packed together like sardines on the subway during rush hour.

Verb

1. form into a bunch
   • The frightened children bunched together in the corner of the classroom