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
It also recorded bumblebee visits to investigate the impacts of heatwaves on foraging behaviour.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 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
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that an insect, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, can choose where to gather food by recognizing how long a visual signal lasts.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
More favors, innocent enough — packages to the mailbox, expeditious disposal of a bumblebee.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
You may be spotting bodies of dead bumblebees lying across pavements near you in the summer months.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
Scientists stress that warm, sunny weather is not automatically bad for bumblebees.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Dr Richard Comont, the Trust's science manager, says that once air temperatures reach around 28C to 32C, UK bumblebees can start to struggle to fly without overheating.
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
The crests above the door lintels still have bumblebees carved into the oak; the ivy-covered fountain in the courtyard is shaped like a hive.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
