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bee's knees

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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
4. 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.
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Word Origin & History

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.

bee''s knees 
1923, a survivor of a fad around this year for slang terms denoting "excellence" and based on animal anatomy. Also existed in the more ribald version bee's nuts. Other versions that lasted through the century are cat's whiskers (1923), cat's pajamas, cat's meow. More obscure examples are canary's tusks, cat's nuts and flea's eyebrows. The linguistic custom was still alive in Britain at the end of the century, as attested by the appearance of dog's bollocks in 1989. Bee's knee was used from 1797 for "something insignificant."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

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
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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