Do cats roam in smallish groups? (6)

I believe the answer is:

octads

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'smallish groups?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'do cats roam' is the wordplay.
'roam' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'roaming' mean this).
'do'+'cats'='docats'
'docats' with letters rearranged gives 'OCTADS'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for octads that I've seen is " Groups of eight".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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