DRONE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does drone mean? 

• DRONE (noun)
  The noun DRONE has 5 senses:

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

2. an unchanging intonation

3. someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind

4. an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control

5. a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone

  Familiarity information: DRONE used as a noun is common.

• DRONE (verb)
  The verb DRONE has 2 senses:

1. make a monotonous low dull sound

2. talk in a monotonous voice

  Familiarity information: DRONE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRONE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

bee (any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unchanging intonation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

drone; droning; monotone

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

intonation; modulation; pitch contour (rise and fall of the voice pitch)

Derivation:

drone (talk in a monotonous voice)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dawdler; drone; laggard; lagger; poke; trailer

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

bum; do-nothing; idler; layabout; loafer (person who does no work)

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

lingerer; loiterer (someone who lingers aimlessly in or about a place)

plodder; slowcoach; slowpoke; stick-in-the-mud (someone who moves slowly)

potterer; putterer (a person who putters about)

straggler; strayer (someone who strays or falls behind)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

drone; pilotless aircraft; radio-controlled aircraft

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

heavier-than-air craft (a non-buoyant aircraft that requires a source of power to hold it aloft and to propel it)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bourdon; drone; drone pipe

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

pipe (a tubular wind instrument)

Holonyms ("drone" is a part of...):

bagpipe (a tubular wind instrument; the player blows air into a bag and squeezes it out through the drone)

• DRONE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they drone    ... he / she / it drones   
Past simple: droned   
Past participle: droned   
-ing form: droning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a monotonous low dull sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

The harmonium was droning on

Hypernyms (to "drone" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

droning (an unchanging intonation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Talk in a monotonous voice

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

drone; drone on

Hypernyms (to "drone" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue drone

Derivation:

drone; droning (an unchanging intonation)

 Context examples 

Amid the droning of the wind there had come the stamping of a horse’s hoofs, and the long grind of a wheel as it rasped against the curb.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One of the drones began to malfunction, but it was able to send back the data it had collected, which revealed a mass at a depth below 1400 feet.

(Lost 52 Project announces discovery of wrecked sub near Okinawa, Wikinews)

As for sounds, there was the steady drone of the snorers and a small occasional noise, a flickering or pecking that I could in no way account for.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Youth will be served, masters,” droned the old man, shaking his head miserably.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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)

Then in an instant his sudden access of strength departed, and his masterful, purposeful talk droned away into the low, vague murmurings of a semi-delirious man.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These owl-inspired leading edge serrations, if applied to wind turbine blades, aircraft wings or drone rotors, could provide a useful biomimetic design for flow control and noise reduction.

(Owls' Wings Key to Beating Wind Turbine Noise, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I say, David, to the young this is a world for action, and not for moping and droning in.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got beyond words.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

C'est pour vos peches—pour vos peches, they droned, looking at the travellers with sad lack-lustre eyes, and then bent to their bloody work once more without heed to the prayers and persuasions which were addressed to them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)