drone

¹ American  

[drohn] / droʊn /

noun

1. the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey.

2. 1. an uncrewed military aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond the line of sight.

      We picked up the GPS signal of a U.S. spy drone.

      They used a radio-controlled drone to test the weapon in an isolated spot.

   2. (loosely) any uncrewed airborne device, especially a small one, that is guided remotely: used for industrial, commercial, and recreational purposes, such as photography and filming, delivery, mining, etc..

      The grocery company will test drones for home delivery and pickup.

3. a drudge.

   I don't want to be a drone who mindlessly does exactly what I'm told, but rather someone who asserts a little control in my work.

4. a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.

   That lazy drone was asleep when he should have been weeding the garden.

---

drone ² American  

[drohn] / droʊn /

verb (used without object)

droned, droning

1. to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound; hum; buzz.

2. to speak in a monotonous tone.

3. to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually followed byon ).

   The meeting droned on for hours.

---

verb (used with object)

droned, droning

1. to say in a dull, monotonous tone.

noun

1. Music.

   1. a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.

   2. the pipes (especially of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.

   3. a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.

2. a monotonous low tone; humming or buzzing sound.

3. a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.

drone ¹ British  

/ drəʊn /

noun

1. a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen

2. a person who lives off the work of others

3. a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft

---

drone ² British  

/ drəʊn /

verb

1. (intr) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum

2. to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping

---

noun

1. a monotonous low dull sound

2. music

   1. a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody

   2. ( as modifier )

      a drone bass

3. music one of the single-reed pipes in a set of bagpipes, used for accompanying the melody played on the chanter

4. a person who speaks in a low monotonous tone

drone Scientific  

/ drōn /

1. A male bee, especially a honeybee whose only function is to fertilize the queen. Drones have no stingers, do no work, and do not produce honey.

---

drone Cultural  

1. In military usage, a pilotless aircraft used for reconnaissance and, more recently, for launching aerial attacks.

---

Other Word Forms

• droner noun
• droning adjective
• droningly adverb
• dronish adjective

Etymology

Origin of drone¹

First recorded before 1000; 1945–50 drone ¹ for def. 2a; Middle English drone, drane, Old English dran, dron; akin to Old High German treno, German Drohne

Origin of drone²

First recorded in 1490–1500; from drone ¹; compare Middle English drounen “to boom, roar,” Icelandic drynja “to bellow,” Gothic drunjus “noise”

Explanation

To drone is to make a low, continuous noise that sounds like humming or buzzing. On summer nights, you might hear cicadas drone, and on snowy winter mornings, hear your neighbor's snow blower drone. Like animals and machines, people drone too, their voices sounding dull and tedious: "When my history teacher drones on, it's hard to stay awake." Drone is also a noun, meaning the monotonous sound itself, like the drone of a boring lecture; or a male worker bee; or a person who's as unambitious as a worker bee. Finally, there are the drones that fly by remote control, doing surveillance, gathering weather information, and occasionally firing missiles for the military.

Example Sentences

The Cornwall Space Cluster, representing Spaceport Cornwall, Goonhilly Earth Station and the National Drone Hub, a drone testing site at Predannack Airfield, is aiming to grow the data, space and aerospace industry in Cornwall.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

His wife, the actress and producer Nicole Ansari Cox has a cameo in the film and also directed the film's picturesque drone sequences.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

On Sept. 14, 2019, a coordinated drone and cruise missile attack—which the U.S.,

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Australia needed the full spectrum of drone capabilities for its defence because of its geography, Marles said.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

The drone of Auntie Matchmaker’s voice floated after me as I pulled the clamp-frame out of the basket.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• purr
• whirr