たかる・集るtakaru[0]heiban (flat)

1. godan verb, intransitive verbto gather; to crowd round; to swarm; to flock
   捨すてられたアイスのまわりにアリがウヨウヨたかっていた。↗

   The area around the melting ice cream was crawling with ants.
2. godan verb, intransitive verbto sponge (off someone); to scrounge; to pester (someone for something); to bum; to cadge
   彼かれは働はたらかないで親類しんるいにたかることばかり考かんがえている。↗

   He doesn't work, but only thinks of sponging off his relatives.
3. godan verb, intransitive verbto extort; to take (money) through intimidation

• Synonym群がるむらがるNeutralNeutral word for people or animals swarming together in one place; it carries none of 「集る」's sponging or pestering-for-money nuance.
• Synonym群れるむれるNeutralMoving or acting as a flock or pack; stresses forming the group itself, and can be pejorative for ganging up or forming cliques.
• Synonym蝟集いしゅうWrittenWritten word for things packing densely together like hedgehog bristles; rare — in everyday speech say 「群がる」.
• Synonym群れ集うむれつどうWrittenPoetic, rarely used word for gathering in flocks or crowds; it has no hint of crowding round someone to sponge off them.
• Synonym雲集うんしゅうWrittenWritten word for people arriving in vast numbers like gathering clouds; rare, and free of 「集る」's sponging nuance.
• Related詰め掛けるつめかけるNeutralCrowds surging to a spot — reporters at a door, fans at a venue; stresses people flocking toward one place.
• Related押し寄せるおしよせるNeutralSurges in with force — crowds, enemy troops, even waves; the emphasis is on the sheer momentum of what comes pressing forward.
• Related集結しゅうけつWrittenWritten word for organized assembly of troops or personnel; 「集る」 is just crowding round a spot, and can also mean pestering for money or goods.
• Related参集さんしゅうFormalFormal word for people assembling at a place, common in notices and official documents; 「集る」 is the more colloquial crowding round.
• Related寄り集まるよりあつまるNeutralNeutral: things coming together from all directions into one group; no suggestion of mobbing someone for food or money.
• Related集うつどうWrittenWritten word for like-minded people coming together, with a warm, positive feel — far from the mobbing image of 「集る」.
• Related会するかいするFormalFormal: people meeting or assembling for a set purpose, as in the set phrase 「一堂に会する」.
• RelatedひしめくNeutralDescribes a packed, jostling, noisy scene — a crowd pressing in with no space between people; the crowding itself is the point.
• RelatedたむろするNeutralLingering or hanging about in a spot; often pejorative for young people loitering in a pack outside a shop.
• Antonym散るちるNeutralAntonym: to scatter or disperse, and of petals or leaves to fall; the opposite of the gathering image of 「集る」.
• Antonym分散ぶんさんNeutralAntonym: breaking up or spreading out; unlike 「集る」 it works transitively too, as in 「リスクを分散する」.

For insects or crowds swarming round, use 「集る」 or the neutral 「群がる」; only 「集る」 also covers sponging off people and pestering them for money. For formal assemblies pick 「参集」, for like-minded gatherings 「集う」; 「散る」 and 「分散」 are the opposites.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 人ひとや動物どうぶつが群れ集むれあつまる。
2. 脅おどしたり泣なきついたりして金品きんぴんを出ださせたり、おだてて食事しょくじをおごらせたりする。