A collective noun (or collective name) is a name which denotes or represents a number of individual items. For example, a number of sheep together is known as a 'flock'. The word 'flock' is the collective noun for a number of sheep. Some items have multiple collective nouns, for example a collection of goats can be known as a 'herd', a 'tribe' or a 'trip'.
Ambush is the collective noun for a group of tigers.
Army is the collective noun for a group of frogs, ants,
Array is the collective noun for a group of hedgehogs.
Badelynge is the collective noun for a group of ducks on the ground.
Bale is the collective noun for a group of turtles.
Barren is the collective noun for a group of mules.
Basket is the collective noun for a group of plums.
Battery is the collective noun for a group of barracuda.
Bazaar is the collective noun for a group of guillemots.
Bed is the collective noun for a group of clams.
Bench is the collective noun for a group of bishops, magistrates.
Bevy is the collective noun for a group of quail, roes, swans, pheasants, ladies.
Brace is the collective noun for a group of bucks.
Brood is the collective noun for a group of chickens.
Building is the collective noun for a group of rooks.
Bunch is the collective noun for a group of grapes, flowers.
Bundle is the collective noun for a group of asparagus.
Business is the collective noun for a group of ferrets.
Caravan is the collective noun for a group of camels.
Cast is the collective noun for a group of hawks, falcons.
Cete is the collective noun for a group of badgers.
Charm is the collective noun for a group of goldfinches.
Chatter is the collective noun for a group of budgerigars.
Chattering is the collective noun for a group of choughs.
Chine is the collective noun for a group of polecats.
Clamour is the collective noun for a group of rooks.
Clous is the collective noun for a group of gnats.
Clowder is the collective noun for a group of cats.
Clump is the collective noun for a group of trees.
Cluster is the collective noun for a group of grapes, spiders.
Clutch is the collective noun for a group of eggs.
Clutter is the collective noun for a group of spiders.
Colony is the collective noun for a group of gulls, frogs, penguins, ants, beavers.
Company is the collective noun for a group of widgeon, parrots.
Congregation is the collective noun for a group of plovers.
Convocation is the collective noun for a group of eagles.
Covert is the collective noun for a group of coots.
Covey is the collective noun for a group of partridges, grouse.
Crash is the collective noun for a group of rhinoceros.
Gurjun is a thin balsam or oil, derived from trees of the genus Dipterocarpus, in Burma and the Far East. It was used for mixing paints, preserving wood from the attacks of white ants, and also medicinally. Research Gurjun
The aardvark ground-hog, Capepig or Cape Ant-eater (Orycteropus afra) is a south African ant eating mammal. It is a nocturnal burrowing animal, feeding on termites and ants. The teeth are numerous and complex, and are quite unlike those of any other mammal. There are four toes on the fore feet and five on the hind. The mouth is elongated and tubular, the tonguevermiform. A few bristly hairs are scattered over the surface of the body and the ears are large and erect, the tail much elongated. Research Aardvark
The Amazon Ant (Formicidae rufescens) is a reddish coloured ant, about eight millimetres long found in a large part of the temperate Holarctic region preferring sunny, warm habitats on sandy soil or limestone. Amazon ants have aggressive sword-like mandibles which they use as weapons when raiding. The Amazon ant is remarkable in that it is unable to build a nest, feed itself or rear its offspring. Instead it raids other ant nests, particularly those of Formica fusca, and carries off pupae which soon hatch and are employed as slaves. Amazon ant raids usually occur in late afternoon in July and August. The Amazon ants emerge, and after a while slowly line up into a formation a few centimetres wide and several metres long containing thousands of ants. This formation then marches the tens of metres to another antnest, kill the defending ants and carry away thousands of pupae to be hatched as slave workers. After mating, the winged male dies, but the winged female sheds her wings and assaults an antnest of another species, penetrating the nest she kills the queen ant and gradually takes over the entirenest, enslaving the worker ants. Research Amazon Ant
Amphisbsena is a genus of serpentiform, limbless, lacertilian reptiles with a body cylindrical, destitute of scales, and divided into numerous annular segments; the tail obtuse, and scarcely to be distinguished from the head, whence the belief that it moved equally well with either end foremost. There are several species, found in tropical America. They feed on ants and earthworms, and were formerly, but erroneously deemed poisonous. Research Amphisbsena
The ant-lion is the larva of a Neuropterous insect Myrmeleon formicarius, which in its perfect state greatly resembles a dragon-fly. The ant-lion is curious on account of its ingenious method of catching the insects - chiefly ants - on which it feeds. It digs a funnel-shaped hole in the driest and finest sand it can find, and when the pit is deep enough, and the sides are quite smooth and sloping, it buries itself at the bottom with only its formidable mandibles projecting, and waits until some luckless insect stumbles over the edge, when it is immediately seized, its juices sucked, and the dead body jerked out. Ant-lions inhabit Southern Europe. Research Ant-Lion
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Collective Noun
