bumblebee
Americannoun
-
bumblebees
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bumblebee
Explanation
A bumblebee is a large, flying insect that pollenates flowers. Bumblebees are fatter and fuzzier than honeybees. They may look cute, but they can still sting you. A bumblebee is a completely different species than a honeybee, though it does make honey. Bumblebees produce honey in much smaller quantities, and it isn't harvested and eaten by people. Bumblebees also live in smaller groups, of up to four hundred bees, compared to honeybees' hives that have as many as 60,000 bees. In some places, they're called humblebees, from the Middle English humbul-be, which echoes the "hum" of a bee.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I spent 30 years consulting with investment firms worldwide, like a bumblebee moving from flower to flower.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Dr Paul Williams, a bumblebee expert at the Natural History Museum, says foraging is an energy calculation for bumblebees.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
They compared honeybee and bumblebee colonies located side by side in Cambridgeshire, England, where soil contamination is generally considered low.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
“If you were a bumblebee, a moth, or a short-tongued solitary bee, how might you approach this bloom?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Deep sunrise purple, bright stone turquoise, shocking bumblebee yellow.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
You may be spotting bodies of dead bumblebees lying across pavements near you in the summer months.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
UK bumblebees could suffer sharp falls in their numbers as heatwaves become more frequent and intense, new analysis suggests.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
As well as their overheating bodies, the other issue for bumblebees is dwindling supplies of food.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Department of Agriculture funded study, worker bumblebees were exposed to low doses of the pesticide before researchers examined changes in their gene expression.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bumblebees had returned to the yard.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
