1. A large group or crowd; a swarm: a horde of mosquitoes. See synonyms at crowd¹.
2. 1. A nomadic Mongol tribe.
   2. A nomadic tribe or group.

[Ultimately (via Polish horda) from North-Western Turkic ordï, residence, court, from Old Turkic ordu.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.