1.
wave of people; surging crowd
A large crowd of people moving like waves, especially the flow of a dense throng in a busy place.
駅は人波であふれていた。
The station was overflowing with a sea of people.
人波にのまれて友人を見失った。
I was swept up in the crowd and lost sight of my friend.
花火大会の帰り道は、駅まで続く人波でなかなか進めなかった。
On the way back from the fireworks show, the wave of people stretching to the station made it hard to move.
Compound of 人 (people) + 波 (wave). A vivid image of a crowd flowing and surging like the sea.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 人波にのまれる: to be swallowed up by the crowd
- 人波をかき分ける: to push through the crowd
- 人波が押し寄せる: a wave of people surges in
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 人ごみ: crowd; throng — the most common everyday word, emphasizes congestion
- 群衆: crowd; multitude — more formal, a mass of gathered people