drone / drōn/ •
v. [intr.] make a continuous low humming sound: in the far distance a machine droned. ∎ speak tediously in a dull monotonous tone: he reached for another beer while Jim droned on. ∎ move with a continuous humming sound: traffic droned up and down the street.•
n. 1. a low continuous humming sound: he nodded off to the drone of the car engine. ∎ inf. a monotonous speech: only twenty minutes of the hour-long drone had passed. ∎ a continuous musical note, typically of low pitch. ∎ a musical instrument, or part of one, sounding such a continuous note, in particular (also drone pipe) a pipe in a bagpipe or (also drone string) a string in an instrument such as a hurdy-gurdy or a sitar.2. a male bee in a colony of social bees, which does no work but can fertilize a queen. ∎ fig. a person who does no useful work and lives off others.3. a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft or missile.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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drone male of the honey-bee. OE. drā́n, drǣ́n; corr. to OS. drān, dreno, MLG. drāne, drōne, (with e-grade) OHG. treno (MHG. tren(e), G. dial.träne), prob. f. *dran- *dren *drun- boom (cf. MDu. drōnen, Du. dreunen, LG. drönen, Icel. drynja roar), with which Gr. anthrḗnē wild bee, tenthrēnē kind of wasp, have been connected. The Eng. form drone (XV; cf. ME., mod. dial. drane) is perh. — (M)LG. drōne. Cf. drone hum, buzz (sb. and vb.). XVI.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English EtymologyT. F. HOAD
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drone a male bee in a colony of social bees, which does no work but can fertilize a queen; in figurative usage (from the early 16th century), a person who does no useful work and lives off others.
In the stories of P. G. Wodehouse, the Drones Club was the club frequented by Bertie Wooster and his friends.
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and FableELIZABETH KNOWLES
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drone A fertile male in a colony of social bees, especially the honeybee (Apis mellifera). The drones die after mating with the queen bee as the male reproductive organs explode within the female.
A Dictionary of Biology
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drone The male of ants, bees, and wasps, whose only function is to mate with fertile females: the drone contributes nothing to the maintenance of the colony.
A Dictionary of EcologyMICHAEL ALLABY
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drone The male of ants, bees, and wasps, whose only function is to mate with fertile females: the drone contributes nothing to the maintenance of the colony.
A Dictionary of ZoologyMICHAEL ALLABY
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drone. Pipe or pipes sounding continuous note of fixed pitch as a permanent bass, e.g. of bagpipes. Hence drone bass applied to orch. mus.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of MusicMICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE
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