hive

[ hahyv ]
See synonyms for hive on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a shelter constructed for housing a colony of honeybees; beehive.

  2. the colony of bees inhabiting a hive.

  1. something resembling a beehive in structure or use.

  2. a place swarming with busy occupants: a hive of industry.

  3. a swarming or teeming multitude.

verb (used with object),hived, hiv·ing.
  1. to gather into or cause to enter a hive.

  2. to shelter as in a hive.

  1. to store up in a hive.

  2. to store or lay away for future use or enjoyment.

verb (used without object),hived, hiv·ing.
  1. (of bees) to enter a hive.

  2. to live together in or as in a hive.

Verb Phrases
  1. hive off, British. to become transferred from the main body of a commercial or industrial enterprise through the agency of new ownership.

Origin of hive

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hȳf; akin to Old Norse hūfr “ship's hull,” Latin cūpa “vat”

Other words for hive

Other words from hive

  • hiveless, adjective
  • hivelike, adjective
  • hiver, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hive

hive

/ (haɪv) /


noun
  1. a structure in which social bees live and rear their young

  2. a colony of social bees

  1. a place showing signs of great industry (esp in the phrase a hive of activity)

  2. a teeming crowd; multitude

  3. an object in the form of a hive

verb
  1. to cause (bees) to collect or (of bees) to collect inside a hive

  2. to live or cause to live in or as if in a hive

  1. (tr) (of bees) to store (honey, pollen, etc) in the hive

  2. (tr; often foll by up or away) to store, esp for future use: he used to hive away a small sum every week

Origin of hive

1
Old English hӯf; related to Westphalian hüwe, Old Norse hūfr ship's hull, Latin cūpa barrel, Greek kupē, Sanskrit kūpa cave

Derived forms of hive

  • hivelike, adjective

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