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:
The trust said this included dingy skipper, which is a small moth-like butterfly, and the shrill carder bumblebee, which was only found in two areas in England.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I spent 30 years consulting with investment firms worldwide, like a bumblebee moving from flower to flower.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 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
Aunt Goldie was out of the car as if a bumblebee had stung her—hugging Mama, hugging Daddy, hugging anybody who would let her wrap her arms around them.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
State wildlife officials have raised concerns about the potential impact of the quarry on bumblebees, desert bighorn sheep, golden eagles and other creatures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Moss carder bumblebees are largely found in small, fragmented populations, according to the trust.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
You may be spotting bodies of dead bumblebees lying across pavements near you in the summer months.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
The warning comes as Britain emerges from a third heatwave in as many months, with temperatures in the range where bumblebees can struggle to fly without overheating.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
She was using the oddlooking stones with holes in ’em and when they flewed ’cross the tent they made a sound like one n’em fat lazy Buxton bumblebees.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
