BEE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bee mean? 

• BEE (noun)
  The noun BEE has 2 senses:

1. any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species

2. a social gathering to carry out some communal task or to hold competitions

  Familiarity information: BEE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("bee" is a kind of...):

hymenopter; hymenopteran; hymenopteron; hymenopterous insect (insects having two pairs of membranous wings and an ovipositor specialized for stinging or piercing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bee"):

drone (stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen)

Apis mellifera; honeybee (social bee often domesticated for the honey it produces)

carpenter bee (large solitary bee that lays eggs in tunnels bored into wood or plant stems)

bumblebee; humblebee (robust hairy social bee of temperate regions)

cuckoo-bumblebee (a bee that is parasitic in the nests of bumblebees)

andrena; andrenid; mining bee (a bee that is a member of the genus Andrena)

alkali bee; Nomia melanderi (a common solitary bee important for pollinating alfalfa in the western United States)

leaf-cutter; leaf-cutter bee; leaf-cutting bee (bee that cuts rounded pieces from leaves and flowers to line its nest)

mason bee (any of numerous solitary bees that build nests of hardened mud and sand)

potter bee (solitary bee that builds nests of mud or pebbles cemented together and attached to a plant)

Holonyms ("bee" is a member of...):

Apoidea; superfamily Apoidea (bees)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A social gathering to carry out some communal task or to hold competitions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("bee" is a kind of...):

social affair; social gathering (a gathering for the purpose of promoting fellowship)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bee"):

quilting bee (a gathering to make quilts)

cornhusking; husking bee (a social gathering for the purpose of husking corn)

 Context examples 

Researchers discovered the means by which honeybees keep their temporary clumps intact during adverse weather conditions, confirming their theory about bees’ behavior under stressful conditions.

(Bees Help Researchers Confirm Theory about Maintaining Protective Clumps under Tough Conditions, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees and flies had to come.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria.

(Venom of Wasp, Bee Repurposed as Antibiotic Drug, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

To test the nanoparticles, the researchers mixed them with red blood cells and melittin, the main toxic component of bee venom.

(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)

The Wicked Witch was so angry when she saw her black bees in little heaps like fine coal that she stamped her foot and tore her hair and gnashed her teeth.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

It is possible that this honey bee protein may even have applications, too, for new vaccines and medicines for humans.

(Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines, University of Cambridge)

Researchers report a slowing of the rate of decline in the bee population over the past year, dropping to its lowest since 2011-2012.

(Study Finds Mixed News About Bee Populations, VOA)

You have to be doing something right because others are coming to you like bees to honey.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The air was calm, full of the eternal hum of insects, a tropical chorus of many octaves, from the deep drone of the bee to the high, keen pipe of the mosquito.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Long, quiet days she spent, not lonely nor idle, for her little world was peopled with imaginary friends, and she was by nature a busy bee.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)