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buzz1

[buhz]
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noun
  1. a low, vibrating, humming sound, as of bees, machinery, or people talking.
  2. a rumor or report.
  3. Informal. a phone call: When I find out, I'll give you a buzz.
  4. Slang.
    1. a feeling of intense enthusiasm, excitement, or exhilaration: I got a terrific buzz from those Pacific sunsets.
    2. a feeling of slight intoxication.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to make a low, vibrating, humming sound.
  2. to speak or murmur with such a sound.
  3. to be filled with the sound of buzzing or whispering: The room buzzed.
  4. to whisper; gossip: Everyone is buzzing about the scandal.
  5. to move busily from place to place.
  6. Slang. to go; leave (usually followed by off or along): I'll buzz along now. Tell him to buzz off and leave me alone.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make a buzzing sound with: The fly buzzed its wings.
  2. to tell or spread (a rumor, gossip, etc.) secretively.
  3. to signal or summon with a buzzer: He buzzed his secretary.
  4. Informal. to make a phone call to.
  5. Aeronautics.
    1. to fly a plane very low over: to buzz a field.
    2. to signal or greet (someone) by flying a plane low and slowing the motor spasmodically.
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Idioms
  1. have/get a buzz on, Slang. to be slightly intoxicated: After a few beers they all had a buzz on.
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Origin of buzz1

1350–1400; Middle English busse; imitative
Related formsbuzz·ing·ly, adverb

buzz2

[buhz]
noun Slang.
  1. a man's very short haircut; crew cut.
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Origin of buzz2

origin uncertain

Aldrin

[awl-drin]
noun
  1. Edwin Eugene, Jr.Buzz, born 1930, U.S. astronaut.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for buzz

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • All the vast theater of the stand was a buzz of eager chatter.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • And this work, with the buzz saw, took up every minute of his time.

    Samantha Among the Brethren, Part 5.

    Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)

  • Suddenly there was a hum and a stir and a buzz of whispering in the room.

  • And in the stillness you could hear the buzz of the motor and the yells of Augustus.

    The Depot Master

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • There was a buzz of interest all about me; then the place grew still—or stiller.

    Kent Knowles: Quahaug

    Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for buzz

buzz

noun
  1. a rapidly vibrating humming sound, as that of a prolonged z or of a bee in flight
  2. a low sound, as of many voices in conversation
  3. a rumour; report; gossip
  4. informal a telephone callI'll give you a buzz
  5. slang
    1. a pleasant sensation, as from a drug such as cannabis
    2. a sense of excitement; kick
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verb
  1. (intr) to make a vibrating sound like that of a prolonged z
  2. (intr) to talk or gossip with an air of excitement or urgencythe town buzzed with the news
  3. (tr) to utter or spread (a rumour)
  4. (intr often foll by about) to move around quickly and busily; bustle
  5. (tr) to signal or summon with a buzzer
  6. (tr) informal to call by telephone
  7. (tr) informal
    1. to fly an aircraft very low over (an object)to buzz a ship
    2. to fly an aircraft very close to or across the path of (another aircraft), esp to warn or intimidate
  8. (tr) (esp of insects) to make a buzzing sound with (wings, etc)
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See also buzz in
Derived Formsbuzzing, noun, adjective

Word Origin

C16: of imitative origin

aldrin

noun
  1. a brown to white poisonous crystalline solid, more than 95 per cent of which consists of the compound C 12 H 8 Cl 6, which is used as an insecticide. Melting pt: 105°C
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Word Origin

C20: named after K. Alder (1902–58) German chemist

Aldrin

noun
  1. Edwin Eugene Jr., known as Buzz. born 1930, US astronaut; the second man to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 flight
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for buzz

v.

late 15c., echoic of bees and other insects. Aviation sense of "fly low and close" is by 1941 (see buzz (n.)). Related: Buzzed; buzzing. Buzz off (1914) originally meant "to ring off on the telephone," from the use of buzzers to signal a call or message on old systems. As a command, it originally would have been telling someone to get off the line.

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n.

"a busy rumour" [Rowe], 1620s (earlier "a fancy," c.1600), figurative use from buzz (v.). Literal sense of "humming sound" is from 1640s. A "buzz" was the characteristic sound of an airplane in early 20c.; hence verbal sense "to fly swiftly," by 1928; by 1940 especially in military use, "to fly low over a surface as a warning signal" (e.g. that target practice is about to begin):

The patrol aircraft shall employ the method of warning known as "buzzing" which consists of low flight by the airplane and repeated opening and closing of the throttle. [1941 Supplement to the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America," Chap. II, Corps of Engineers, War Department, p. 3434, etc. ]

Meaning "pleasant sense of intoxication" first recorded 1935. The children's game of counting off with 7 or multiples of it replaced by buzz is attested from 1864 and is mentioned in "Little Women" (1868). To give (someone) a buzz (by 1922) is from the buzz that announced a call on old telephone systems.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
buzz in Science

aldrin

[ôl′drĭn]
  1. A highly poisonous white powder used as a crop pesticide and to kill termites. Because of its toxicity to animals and humans, its production has been discontinued. Aldrin is a chlorinated derivative of naphthalene closely related to dieldrin. Chemical formula: C12H8Cl6.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.