51Թ

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View synonyms for

bee

1

[bee]

noun

  1. any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebee, honeybee, 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.



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.

B.E.E.

3

abbreviation

  1. Bachelor of Electrical Engineering.

bee

1

/ ː /

noun

  1. any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea , which includes social forms such as the honeybee and solitary forms such as the carpenter bee See also bumblebee mason bee

  2. a person who is industrious or has many things to do

  3. to be preoccupied or obsessed with an idea

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bee

2

/ ː /

noun

  1. a social gathering for a specific purpose, as to carry out a communal task or hold competitions

    quilting bee

  2. See spelling bee

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

BEE

3

abbreviation

  1. Black Economic Empowerment: a government policy aimed at encouraging and supporting shareholding by black people

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bee

4

/ ː /

noun

  1. nautical a small sheave with one cheek removed and the pulley and other cheek fastened flat to a boom or another spar, used for reeving outhauls or stays

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • beelike adjective
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of bee1

First recorded before 1000; Middle English be(e); Old English ī, bēo; cognate with Dutch bij, Old Saxon bī, bini, Old High German ī, bini ( German Biene ), Old Norse ̄; with other suffixes, Lithuanian ìė, Old Prussian bitte, Old Church Slavonic ĭ, Old Irish bech; the unattested bhi- is a North European stem with the same distribution as wax 1, apple; put the bee on is probably an allusion to sting in sense “dupe, cheat”

Origin of bee2

First recorded before 1050; Middle English bei, be, bih “ring,” Old English ŧ, bēah, bēg; cognate with Old Frisian 岵, Old Saxon, Middle Low German ō, Old High German boug, Old Norse baugr, Sanskrit bhoga-; akin to bow 1
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of bee1

Old English ī ; related to Old Norse ӯ , Old High German ī , Dutch bij , Swedish bi

Origin of bee2

C18: perhaps from dialect bean neighbourly help, from Old English ŧ boon

Origin of bee3

Old English ŧ ; related to Old High German boug ring, Old Norse bogi a bow
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. have a bee in one's bonnet,

    1. to be obsessed with one idea.

    2. to have eccentric or fanciful ideas or schemes.

      Our aunt obviously has a bee in her bonnet, but we're very fond of her.

  2. the bee's knees, (especially in the 1920s) a person or thing that is wonderful, great, or marvelous.

    Her new roadster is simply the bee's knees.

  3. put the bee on, to try to obtain money from, as for a loan or donation.

    My brother just put the bee on me for another $10.

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).
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Instead of bright, attractive flowers that bring the bees, they have dark, reddish blooms that stink.

From

An estimated 250 million bees escaped from an overturned truck in the US state of Washington on Friday, sparking warnings from authorities for the public to avoid the swarm of stinging insects.

From

Residents are being plagued by huge swarms of up to a million bees in their street that have stung "on numerous occasions" and left them fearful of opening a window.

From

Trump has had a bee in his incontinence diapers ever since Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won the Oscar for best picture in 2020.

From

The method - called oral immunotherapy - is already proven to work for allergies to pollen, wasp and bee stings.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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