any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebee, honeybee, etc.
the common honeybee, Apis mellifera.
a community social gathering in order to perform some task, engage in a contest, etc..
a sewing bee;
a spelling bee;
a husking bee.
have a bee in one's bonnet,
to be obsessed with one idea.
to have eccentric or fanciful ideas or schemes.
Our aunt obviously has a bee in her bonnet, but we're very fond of her.
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.
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.
Also called bee block. Nautical. a piece of hardwood, bolted to the side of a bowsprit, through which to reeve stays.
Obsolete. a metal ring or bracelet.
a social gathering for a specific purpose, as to carry out a communal task or hold competitions
quilting bee
See spelling bee
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”
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
A bee is a fuzzy, buzzing insect that flies and sometimes stings. Many flower gardens are especially planned to attract bees. Bees have two pairs of wings and a long tongue-like proboscis that's used for collecting nectar from flowers. Bees are vital in the health of many plants, because they help to pollinate them, spreading pollen so they can reproduce and spread. Some bees also make honey. Because bees appear to be constantly moving and buzzing, since the mid-1500's they'e been equated with hard workers, as in the phrases "worker bee" and "busy as a bee."
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Orr emphasized that maintaining healthy bee populations is essential for successful pollination.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
To investigate these effects, the team flash froze bee tissues and analyzed their RNA to measure how gene activity changed after pesticide exposure.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
Scientists are now uncovering how even low levels of exposure may affect bee reproduction at the molecular level.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
However, the new study, published in Ecological Entomology, the journal of the Royal Entomological Society, shows that different bee species accumulate toxic metals in very different ways, with bumblebees appearing to be especially vulnerable.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
As usual, Sheed was drawn directly to her like a bee to a dandelion.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The BEE legislation requires companies to offer ownership stakes, jobs and other preferences to historically disadvantaged South Africans, including Black, Indian and multiracial people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
It took them several years, after the fall of apartheid, to re-establish themselves as BEE entrepreneurs – and to bring many of their old comrades with them, into the business world.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 11, 2019
A tour de force account of Noah’s ark features a long roll call of animals: “GET DOS . . . COW AND CUB/ BEE AND BOA/ YAK AND LEO/ DOE AND DOG.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2019
Even though the BEE policies expanded over the years and helped create a rapidly expanding black middle class, they still largely failed to improve the lot of the majority.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2013
BEE, persistency of character of. -intercrossing. -conveyance of pollen of peas by.
From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles
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.
