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.

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drone ² American  

[drohn] / droʊn /

verb (used without object)

• drones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• droned,
  past participle,  past
• droning
  present participle

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.

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verb (used with object)

• drones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• droned,
  past participle,  past
• droning
  present participle

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

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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

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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.

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drone Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

• droning
  present
• droned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• drone
  simple
• drones
  simple
• have droned
  perfect
• has droned
  perfect
• am droning
  progressive
• are droning
  progressive
• is droning
  progressive
• have been droning
  perfect progressive
• has been droning
  perfect progressive

Past

• droned
  simple
• had droned
  perfect
• was droning
  progressive
• were droning
  progressive
• had been droning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will drone
  simple
• will have droned
  perfect
• will be droning
  progressive
• will have been droning
  perfect progressive

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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”

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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

See Examples For:

drone drones droned droning

Osorio recalls watching footage from a drone overhead as Tofino appeared to say his own goodbyes.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

To skim costs in that shift, the company used cheap, faulty battery packs that, it turns out, were the real culprit for the drone failure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Downing a single Russian attack drone can require at least two interceptor drones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

"Prince's group is said to have supported Congolese special operations forces and army units with drone surveillance and other technical assistance."

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Indian classical music, for example, does not contain harmony, but only the three textures of a melody, rhythm, and a drone.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Understanding these compromises could also lead to improvements in aviation technology, particularly drones and other robotic aircraft that use flapping wings.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

The paper says the "near-misses" took place just days apart, and the mystery objects were spotted at 17,000ft - which it notes is more than 40 times the legal height limit for commercial drones.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The company, which makes some of its drones in Ukraine, didn’t say when large-scale production would begin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

As Michael and Olivia investigate, they learn that Moondancer was quietly transitioning from public entertainment events to manufacturing AI-driven military/kamikaze drones.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The drones get even closer, moving south toward us as one tiny triangular unit.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

At one event, in which Oz was interviewed by Dean Cain, an actor who played Superman in a 1990s television show, about 50 people listened in as Oz droned on about an anti-fraud task force.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

“Now bring it up to your heartspace, connecting to your heart,” she continued, as ambient music droned in the background.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025

Yet, Carlson’s listless approach to the Russian dictator, who droned on endlessly, proved a wasted opportunity.

From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2024

That excitement was not evident inside the grand ballroom at the JW Marriott in Houston Sunday, as Harbaugh droned on about nature documentaries he shows his team on the day of a game.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2024

Inside, the glow from the television lit the walls as newscasters droned on, their voices interrupted by a subtle snoring every few seconds.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

“At any given point, the pike was a symphony of spinning wheels, creaking cabs, clopping hooves, and droning livestock,” Mr. Crytzer writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The little wagon retains the flat-four’s characteristic droning when it revs out, as when merging with highway traffic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

Dillon also mocked his critics during the episode, impersonating them in a droning voice: “They don’t believe in anything, these people.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025

If you think legislative sausage-making is tedious now, imagine this: a bunch of blowhards on the Senate floor, droning on and on, endlessly debating the chamber’s rules.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025

Ghosts didn’t visit, but swarms of mosquitoes did, feasting on us and droning loudly in our ears.

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

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