bee definition | Dictionary.com

bee

1 [bee]

–noun

1.	any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebees, honeybees, etc.

2.	the common honeybee, Apis mellifera.

3.	a community social gathering in order to perform some task, engage in a contest, etc.: a sewing bee; a spelling bee; a husking bee.

—Idioms

have a bee in one's bonnet,

a.	to be obsessed with one idea.

b.	to have eccentric or fanciful ideas or schemes: Our aunt obviously has a bee in her bonnet, but we're very fond of her.

5.	put the bee on, Informal. to try to obtain money from, as for a loan or donation: My brother just put the bee on me for another $10.

6.	the bee's knees, Older Slang. (esp. in the 1920s) a person or thing that is wonderful, great, or marvelous: Her new roadster is simply the bee's knees.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME be(e); OE bīo, bēo; c. D bij, OS bī, bini, OHG bīa, bini (G Biene), ON bȳ; with other suffixes, Lith bìtė, OPruss bitte, OCS bĭchela, OIr bech; *bhi- is a North European stem with the same distribution as wax ¹ , apple; put the bee on prob. an allusion to sting in sense “dupe, cheat”

Related forms:

beelike, adjective

bee

2 [bee]

–noun

1.	Also called bee block. Nautical. a piece of hardwood, bolted to the side of a bowsprit, through which to reeve stays.

2.	Obsolete. a metal ring or bracelet.

Origin:
bef. 1050; ME beh ring, OE bēag, bēah; c. OFris bāg, OS, MLG bōg, OHG boug, ON baugr, Skt bhoga-; akin to bow ¹

B.E.E.

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To bee

bee¹ (bē)

1. Any of several winged, hairy-bodied, usually stinging insects of the superfamily Apoidea in the order Hymenoptera, including both solitary and social species and characterized by sucking and chewing mouthparts for gathering nectar and pollen.
2. A bumblebee.
3. A honeybee.
A social gathering where people combine work, competition, and amusement: a quilting bee.

[Middle English, from Old English bēo; see bhei- in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, perhaps alteration of dialectal bean, voluntary help given to a farmer by his neighbors, from Middle English bene, extra service by a tenant to his lord, from Old English bēn, prayer; see bhā-² in Indo-European roots.]

bee² (bē)

n. Nautical
A bee block.

[Middle English be, a ring, from Old English bēag; see bheug- in Indo-European roots.]

bee³ (bē)

n. The letter b.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bee

Bee\, p. p. of Be; -- used for been. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Bee

Bee\ (b[=e]), n. [AS. be['o]; akin to D. bij and bije, Icel. b?, Sw. & Dan. bi, OHG. pini, G. biene, and perh. Ir. beach, Lith. bitis, Skr. bha. [root]97.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) An insect of the order Hymenoptera, and family Apid[ae] (the honeybees), or family Andrenid[ae] (the solitary bees.) See Honeybee.

Note: There are many genera and species. The common honeybee (Apis mellifica) lives in swarms, each of which has its own queen, its males or drones, and its very numerous workers, which are barren females. Besides the A. mellifica there are other species and varieties of honeybees, as the A. ligustica of Spain and Italy; the A. Indica of India; the A. fasciata of Egypt. The bumblebee is a species of Bombus. The tropical honeybees belong mostly to Melipoma and Trigona.

2. A neighborly gathering of people who engage in united labor for the benefit of an individual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee. [U. S.]

The cellar . . . was dug by a bee in a single day. --S. G. Goodrich.

3. pl. [Prob. fr. AS. be['a]h ring, fr. b?gan to bend. See 1st Bow.] (Naut.) Pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through; -- called also bee blocks.

Bee beetle (Zo["o]l.), a beetle (Trichodes apiarius) parasitic in beehives.

Bee bird (Zo["o]l.), a bird that eats the honeybee, as the European flycatcher, and the American kingbird.

Bee flower (Bot.), an orchidaceous plant of the genus Ophrys (O. apifera), whose flowers have some resemblance to bees, flies, and other insects.

Bee fly (Zo["o]l.), a two winged fly of the family Bombyliid[ae]. Some species, in the larval state, are parasitic upon bees.

Bee garden, a garden or inclosure to set beehives in; an apiary. --Mortimer.

Bee glue, a soft, unctuous matter, with which bees cement the combs to the hives, and close up the cells; -- called also propolis.

Bee hawk (Zo["o]l.), the honey buzzard.

Bee killer (Zo["o]l.), a large two-winged fly of the family Asilid[ae] (esp. Trupanea apivora) which feeds upon the honeybee. See Robber fly.

Bee louse (Zo["o]l.), a minute, wingless, dipterous insect (Braula c[ae]ca) parasitic on hive bees.

Bee martin (Zo["o]l.), the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis) which occasionally feeds on bees.

Bee moth (Zo["o]l.), a moth (Galleria cereana) whose larv[ae] feed on honeycomb, occasioning great damage in beehives.

Bee wolf (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the bee beetle. See Illust. of Bee beetle.

To have a bee in the head or in the bonnet. (a) To be choleric. [Obs.] (b) To be restless or uneasy. --B. Jonson. (c) To be full of fancies; to be a little crazy. "She's whiles crack-brained, and has a bee in her head." --Sir W. Scott.

Language Translation for : bee

Spanish: abeja,

German: die Biene,

Japanese: みつばち

More Translations »

bee

O.E. beo, from P.Gmc. *bion (cf. O.H.G. bia, M.Du. bie), possibly from PIE base *bhi- "quiver." Used metaphorically for "busy worker" since 1535. Sense of "meeting of neighbors to unite their labor for the benefit of one of their number," 1769, Amer.Eng., is from comparison to the social activity of the insect; this was extended to other senses (e.g. spelling bee, first attested 1809). Beehive is first attested c.1325; as a kind of hairstyle, 1960.

Main Entry: bee
Pronunciation: 'bE
Function: noun
: HONEYBEE; broadly : any of numerous hymenopteran insects (superfamily Apoidea) that differ from the related wasps especially in the heavier hairier body and in having sucking as well as chewing mouthparts, thatfeed on pollen and nectar, and that store both and often also honey —see AFRICANIZED BEE

Bee

First mentioned in Deut. 1:44. Swarms of bees, and the danger of their attacks, are mentioned in Ps. 118:12. Samson found a "swarm of bees" in the carcass of a lion he had slain (Judg. 14:8). Wild bees are described as laying up honey in woods and in clefts of rocks (Deut. 32:13; Ps. 81:16). In Isa. 7:18 the "fly" and the "bee" are personifications of the Egyptians and Assyrians, the inveterate enemies of Israel.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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bee

In addition to the idiom beginning with bee, also see birds and the bees; busy as a beaver (bee); make a beeline for; none of one's business (beeswax).

BEE
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering

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