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drone

 - 7 dictionary results
Remote Controlled Drone
Aerial Helicopter Drone with GPS Take High Definition Video & Photos
www.draganfly.com

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

Related forms:
dronish, adjective
Remote Controlled Drone
Aerial Helicopter Drone with GPS Take High Definition Video & Photos
www.draganfly.com

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

Related forms:
droner, noun
dron⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To drone
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).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

drone

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

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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