0 the activity of giving tasks to a large group of people or to the general public, for example, by asking for help on the internet:
1 the act of giving tasks to a large group of people or to the general public, for example, by asking for help on the internet, rather than having tasks done within a company by employees:
a crowdsourcing project to generate creative ideas about personal energy efficiency
Some firms are realising that crowdsourcing can be more expensive than doing things themselves.