drone
1the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey.
an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight: the GPS of a U.S. spy drone.
(loosely) any unmanned aircraft or ship that is guided remotely: a radio-controlled drone.
a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.
a drudge.
Origin of drone
1Other words from drone
- dronish, adjective
Other definitions for drone (2 of 2)
to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually followed by on): The meeting droned on for hours.
to say in a dull, monotonous tone.
Music.
a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
the pipes (especially of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
a monotonous low tone; humming or buzzing sound.
a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.
Origin of drone
2Other words from drone
- droner, noun
- dron·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use drone in a sentence
In this war, the targeting is often happening on computer monitors thousands of miles away, capturing images from drones.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War | Nancy A. Youssef | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTFurther, there are maintenance crews who have to fix those drones.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says | Dave Majumdar | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Air Force has enough MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says | Dave Majumdar | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTShortly thereafter, Facebook announced a similar initiative, although their plan calls for the use of drones instead of balloons.
We watch U.S. cargo planes, helicopters and drones take off and land.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley | Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Buddhism failed to ennoble the daily occupations of life, and produced drones and idlers and religious vagabonds.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordThey are active drones, to speak with paradox, in the great hive of human energy.
The Arena | VariousIt is well known, that after the season of swarming, a general massacre of the drones is commenced.
The Book of Curiosities | I. PlattsEvery modern civilized nation rewards its drones better than it rewards its bees, and in every land the drones control the bees.
The Common Sense of Socialism | John SpargoHow the workers live and how the shirkers live; now the bees live and how the drones live, if you like that better.
The Common Sense of Socialism | John Spargo
British Dictionary definitions for drone (1 of 2)
/ (drəʊn) /
a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
British a person who lives off the work of others
a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft
Origin of drone
1Derived forms of drone
- dronish, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for drone (2 of 2)
/ (drəʊn) /
(intr) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum
(when intr, often foll by on) to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping
a monotonous low dull sound
music
a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody
(as modifier): a drone bass
music one of the single-reed pipes in a set of bagpipes, used for accompanying the melody played on the chanter
a person who speaks in a low monotonous tone
Origin of drone
2Derived forms of drone
- droning, adjective
- droningly, adverb
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
Scientific definitions for drone
[ drōn ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for drone
In military usage, a pilotless aircraft used for reconnaissance and, more recently, for launching aerial attacks.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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