honeycomb

[ huhn-ee-kohm ]
See synonyms for honeycomb on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a structure of rows of hexagonal wax cells, formed by bees in their hive for the storage of honey, pollen, and their eggs.

  2. a piece of this containing honey and chewed as a sweet.

  1. anything whose appearance suggests such a structure, especially in containing many small units or holes: The building was a honeycomb of offices and showrooms.

  2. the reticulum of a ruminant.

  3. Textiles.

    • Also called waffle cloth. a fabric with an embossed surface woven in a pattern resembling a honeycomb.

    • the characteristic weave of such a fabric.

adjective
  1. having the structure or appearance of a honeycomb.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to be full of holes; pierce with many holes or cavities: an old log honeycombed with ant burrows.

  2. to penetrate in all parts: a city honeycombed with vice.

Origin of honeycomb

1
before 1050; Middle English huny-comb,Old English hunigcamb.See honey, comb

Words Nearby honeycomb

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

How to use honeycomb in a sentence

  • This dish is based on the beautiful white honeycomb tripe, which comes from the second stomach, or the reticulum, of an ox.

    What to Eat: Offal | Cookstr.com | January 26, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • It was like honeycomb, the cells of which had been sliced by a knife; the shining metal brimmed over in the delicate quartz cells.

  • You must have seen a "cob" of Indian corn some time, with all the flat yellow grains nestling in a honeycomb of little cells.

  • All the wasps which I have hitherto described have their tiers of cells single: now, the honeycomb is invariably double.

  • Johnny started to take an apple out of his pack, then changed his mind and took a piece of honeycomb.

    The Piebald Hippogriff | Karen Anderson
  • The piebald sniffed at the honeycomb, then jerked up its head to watch him suspiciously.

    The Piebald Hippogriff | Karen Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for honeycomb

honeycomb

/ (ˈhʌnɪˌkəʊm) /


noun
  1. a waxy structure, constructed by bees in a hive, that consists of adjacent hexagonal cells in which honey is stored, eggs are laid, and larvae develop

  2. something resembling this in structure or appearance

  1. zoology another name for reticulum (def. 2)

verb(tr)
  1. to pierce or fill with holes, cavities, etc

  2. to permeate: honeycombed with spies

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