From a derivative of echo (meaning a vehicle); a throng (as borne along); by implication, the rabble; by extension, a class of people; figuratively, a riot -- company, multitude, number (of people), people, press.

see GREEK echo

1. a casual collection of people; a multitude of men who have flocked together in some place, a throng: Matthew 9:23, 25; Matthew 15:10, etc.; Mark 2:4; Mark 3:9, and often; Luke 5:1, 19; Luke 7:9, etc.; John 5:13; John 6:22, 24; John 7:20, 32, 49, etc.; Acts 14:14; Acts 17:8; Acts 21:34; τίς ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου, Luke 11:27; Luke 12:13; or ἀπό τοῦ ὄχλου, ; ἀπό (for i. e. on account of (cf. ἀπό, II. 2 b.)) τοῦ ὄχλου, Luke 19:3; ἡ βία τοῦ ὄχλου, Acts 21:35; πολύς ὄχλος and much more often ὄχλος πολύς, Matthew 14:14; Matthew 20:29; Matthew 26:47; Mark 5:21, 24; Mark 6:34; Mark 9:14; Mark 14:43 (here T Tr WH omit; L Tr marginal reading brackets πολύς); Luke 7:11; Luke 8:4; Luke 9:37; John 6:2, 5; John 12:12 (but here Tr marginal reading brackets WH prefix ὁ; cf. Buttmann, 91 (80)); Revelation 19:1, 6; with the article ὁ πολύς ὄχλος, the great multitude present, Mark 12:37; (ὁ ὄχλος πολύς (the noun forming with the adjective a single composite term, like our) the common people, John 12:9 T WH Tr marginal reading; cf. Buttmann, as above; some would give the phrase the same sense in Mark, the passage cited); πάμπολυς, Mark 8:1 (Rec.); ἱκανός, Mark 10:46; Luke 7:12; Acts 11:24, 26; Acts 19:26; ὁ ... πλεῖστος ὄχλος (the most part of the multitude), Matthew 21:8; πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος, Matthew 13:2; Mark 2:13; Mark 4:1; Mark 7:14 (Rec.); ; Luke 13:17; Acts 21:27; ὄχλον τοσοῦτον, Matthew 15:33; αἱ μυριάδες τοῦ ὄχλου Luke 12:1; οὐ μετά ὄχλου, not having a crowd with me, Acts 24:18; ἄτερ ὄχλου, in the absence of the multitude ((see ἄτερ)), Luke 22:6. plural οἱ ὄχλοι, very often in Matt. and Luke, as Matthew 5:1; Matthew 7:28; Matthew 9:8, 33, 36; Matthew 11:7; Matthew 12:46; Matthew 13:34, 36, etc.; Luke 3:7, 10; Luke 4:42; Luke 5:3; Luke 8:42, 45; Luke 9:11; Luke 11:14, etc.; Acts 8:6; Acts 13:45; Acts 14:11, 13, 18; Acts 17:13; once in John 7:12 (where Tdf. the singular); in Mark only Rec.; and without the article Mark 10:1; ὄχλοι πολλοί, Matthew 4:25; Matthew 8:1; Matthew 12:15 (R G); ; Luke 5:15; Luke 14:25; πάντες οἱ ὄχλοι, Matthew 12:23.

2. the multitude, i. e. the common people, opposed to the rulers and leading men: Matthew 14:5; Matthew 21:26; Mark 12:12; (John 7:12b (provided the plural is retained in the first part of the verse)); with contempt, "the ignorant multitude, the populace, John 7:49; ἐπισύστασις ὄχλου, a riot, a mob, Acts 24:12 (L T Tr WH ἐπίστασιν (which see) ὄχλου).

3. universally, a multitude: with a genitive of the class, as τελωνῶν, Luke 5:29; μαθητῶν, Luke 6:17; ὀνομάτων (see ὄνομα, 3), Acts 1:15; τῶν ἱερέων, Acts 6:7; the plural ὄχλοι, joined with λαοί and ἔθνη, in Revelation 17:15 seems to designate troops of men assembled together without order. (The Sept. chiefly for הָמון.)