Literary notes about Gaggle (AI summary)
Writers employ the word "gaggle" in a variety of vivid ways that play on its literal meaning—a flock of geese—to evoke dynamic groupings in both nature and human contexts. In some narratives it paints a lively picture of actual bird flocks, as in the portrayal of wild ducks or Canada geese in mid-flight ([1], [2]), while in other works it humorously or critically describes clusters of people or even inanimate objects, such as helicopters or bellmen, creating a sense of organized chaos ([3], [4]). At times, the term extends its metaphorical reach further to illustrate noise and confusion amid disorder, enhancing the reader’s connection to the scene through familiar, if idiosyncratic, imagery ([5], [6]).
- Then, with a clang of wings and a chorus of shrill quacks, a gaggle of wild duck got up and sped away into the dark.
— from The City in the Clouds by Guy Thorne - A gaggle of Canada geese, wearing white bibs below their black heads and necks, came beating down the wind, shouting to earth as they flew.
— from Wild Folk by Samuel Scoville - The Company I, 3/26, commander later stated: "If it weren't for the Gaggle, most of us probably wouldn't be here today."
— from The Battle for Khe Sanh by Moyers S. Shore - He urged Eva on past the gaggle of bellmen and into the marbled lobby.
— from Project Daedalus by Thomas Hoover - Like the gaggle of lawyers bickering at the front of the courtroom, the judge was—and would always be—out of the loop.
— from Underground: Hacking, madness and obsession on the electronic frontier by Suelette Dreyfus - Then, at once, was revealed to me the cause and object of all this gaggle, and confusion, and outcry.
— from At a Winter's Fire by Bernard Edward Joseph Capes
