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Drone - 10 dictionary results

drone

1[drohn]
–noun
1. the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey.
2. a remote control mechanism, as a radio-controlled airplane or boat.
3. a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.
4. a drudge.

Origin:
bef. 1000; 1945–50 for def. 2; ME drone, drane, OE dran, dron; akin to OHG treno, G Drohne


dronish, adjective

drone

2[drohn] verb, droned, dron⋅ing, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound; hum; buzz.
2. to speak in a monotonous tone.
3. to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually fol. by on): The meeting droned on for hours.
–verb (used with object)
4. to say in a dull, monotonous tone.
–noun
5. Music.
a. a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
b. the pipes (esp. of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
c. a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
6. a monotonous low tone; humming or buzzing sound.
7. a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.

Origin:
1490–1500; see drone 1 and cf. ME droun to roar, Icel drynja to bellow, Goth drunjus noise


droner, noun
dron⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
drone 1   (drōn)   
n.  
  1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee.
  2. An idle person who lives off others; a loafer.
  3. A person who does tedious or menial work; a drudge: "undervalued drones who labored in obscurity" (Caroline Bates).
  4. A pilotless aircraft operated by remote control.

[Middle English, from Old English drān.]
drone 2   (drōn)   
v.   droned, dron·ing, drones

v.   intr.
  1. To make a continuous low dull humming sound: "Somewhere an electric fan droned without end" (William Styron).
  2. To speak in a monotonous tone: The lecturer droned on for hours.
  3. To pass or act in a monotonous way.
v.   tr.
To utter in a monotonous low tone: "The mosquitoes droned their angry chant" (W. Somerset Maugham).
n.  
  1. A continuous low humming or buzzing sound.
  2. Music
    1. Any of the pipes of a bagpipe that lack finger holes and produce a single tone.
    2. A long sustained tone.
    3. Any of various instruments that produce only a constant pitch.

[From drone1 (from the bee's humming sound).]

Drone

Drone\, n. [OE. drane a dronebee, AS. dr[=a]n; akin to OS. dr[=a]n, OHG. treno, G. drohne, Dan. drone, cf. Gr. ? a kind of wasp, dial. Gr. ? drone. Prob. named fr. the droning sound. See Drone, v. i.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It gathers no honey. See Honeybee.

All with united force combine to drive The lazy drones from the laborious hive. --Dryden.

2. One who lives on the labors of others; a lazy, idle fellow; a sluggard.

By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and unworthy member of so noble and learned a society. -- Burton.

3. That which gives out a grave or monotonous tone or dull sound; as: (a) A drum. [Obs.] Halliwell. (b) The part of the bagpipe containing the two lowest tubes, which always sound the key note and the fifth.

4. A humming or deep murmuring sound.

The monotonous drone of the wheel. --Longfellow.

5. (Mus.) A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition.

Drone

Drone\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Droned; p. pr. & vb. n. Droning.] [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G. dr["o]hnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Sw. dr["o]na to bellow, drone, Dan. dr["o]ne, Goth. drunjus sound, Gr. ? dirge, ? to cry aloud, Skr. dhran to sound. Cf. Drone, n.]

1. To utter or make a low, dull, monotonous, humming or murmuring sound.

Where the beetle wheels his droning flight. --T. Gray.

2. To love in idleness; to do nothing. "Race of droning kings." --Dryden.
Language Translation for : Drone
Spanish: zángano,
German: die Drohne,
Japanese: 雄蜂

drone

In military usage, a pilotless aircraft used for reconnaissance and, more recently, for launching aerial attacks.

drone

n. Ignorant sales or customer service personnel in computer or electronics superstores. Characterized by a lack of even superficial knowledge about the products they sell, yet possessed of the conviction that they are more competent than their hacker customers. Usage: "That video board probably sucks, it was recommended by a drone at Fry's" In the year 2000, their natural habitats include Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, and CompUSA.

drone  (n.)
O.E. dran, dræn "male honeybee," from P.Gmc. *dran-, probably imitative; given a figurative sense of "idler, lazy worker" (male bees make no honey) c.1529; the verb in the sound sense is c.1500, apparently imitative. Meaning "pilotless aircraft" is from 1946.
drone   (drōn)  Pronunciation Key 
A male bee, especially a honeybee whose only function is to fertilize the queen. Drones have no stingers, do no work, and do not produce honey.
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