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 for

1. Bachelor of Electrical Engineering.

bee

¹

/ biː /

noun

1. See mason bee, bumblebee
   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 apian
2. busy bee
   busy bee a person who is industrious or has many things to do
3. have a bee in one's bonnet
   have a bee in one's bonnet to be preoccupied or obsessed with an idea

bee

²

/ biː /

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
   See spelling bee

BEE

³

abbreviation for

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

bee

⁴

/ biː /

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

Other Words From

• beelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bee¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English be(e); Old English bīo, bēo; cognate with Dutch bij, Old Saxon bī, bini, Old High German bīa, bini ( German Biene ), Old Norse bȳ; with other suffixes, Lithuanian bìtė, Old Prussian bitte, Old Church Slavonic bĭchela, 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 bēag, bēah, bēg; cognate with Old Frisian bāg, Old Saxon, Middle Low German bōg, Old High German boug, Old Norse baugr, Sanskrit bhoga-; akin to bow ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bee¹

Old English bīo ; related to Old Norse bӯ , Old High German bīa , Dutch bij , Swedish bi

Origin of bee²

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

Origin of bee³

Old English bēag ; related to Old High German boug ring, Old Norse bogi a bow

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. put the bee on, Informal: Older Use. to try to obtain money from, as for a loan or donation:

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

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

   Her new roadster is simply the bee's knees.

More idioms and phrases containing bee

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) .

Example Sentences

It features a young girl at a spelling bee who is asked to spell “Hagan.”

From The Daily Beast

How could anyone think that their dislike of the Bee Gees made anything about Disco Demolition Night acceptable?

From The Daily Beast

In an ad called “Spelling Bee,” a young child spells “Pryor” as “O-B-A-M-A,” to which the judge says, “Close enough.”

From The Daily Beast

Certainly there are some Asians who have gleefully embraced the image of being the diligent worker bee.

From The Daily Beast

If someone put a gun to your head and said, ‘Find the Bee Gees in 30 seconds,’ you could do it.

From The Daily Beast

About an hour after resuming their walk, the major went off in hot pursuit of an enormous bee, which he saw humming round a bush.

From Project Gutenberg

But like the bee, while impelled by an instinct that makes it search for sugar, it sucks in therewith its solid sustenance.

From Project Gutenberg

I am not quite certain that the bee does exactly do this; but it is just the kind of thing that the bee is likely to do.

From Project Gutenberg

When he first worked her she had the old bee-but boiler, 24 feet in diameter.

From Project Gutenberg

Such a "bee" as that was had never before buzzed on that mountain, even though this was by no means the first one known there.

From Project Gutenberg