honeycomb

[ huhn-ee-kohm ]

/ ˈhʌn iˌkoʊm /

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See synonyms for honeycomb on Thesaurus.com

noun

a structure of rows of hexagonal wax cells, formed by bees in their hive for the storage of honey, pollen, and their eggs.

a piece of this containing honey and chewed as a sweet.

anything whose appearance suggests such a structure, especially in containing many small units or holes: The building was a honeycomb of offices and showrooms.

the reticulum of a ruminant.

Textiles.

Also called waffle cloth. a fabric with an embossed surface woven in a pattern resembling a honeycomb.
the characteristic weave of such a fabric.

adjective

having the structure or appearance of a honeycomb.

verb (used with object)

to cause to be full of holes; pierce with many holes or cavities: an old log honeycombed with ant burrows.

to penetrate in all parts: a city honeycombed with vice.

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Origin of honeycomb

before 1050; Middle English huny-comb,Old English hunigcamb.See honey, comb

Words nearby honeycomb

honeyberry, honey bucket, honey bun, honeybunch, honey buzzard, honeycomb, honeycomb moth, honeycomb tripe, honeycomb work, honeycreeper, honeydew

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use honeycomb in a sentence

The school’s modular design resembles a honeycomb, where as few or as many nodes as needed can be linked together.
The World’s First 3D Printed School Will Be Built in Madagascar|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|February 26, 2021|Singularity Hub
The surface of the cake reinforces its name, with the hexagon pattern of a honeycomb.
This new Azerbaijani bakery offers stories as good as its pastries|Tom Sietsema|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
WaveCel uses a honeycomb structure that both crushes and shears laterally on impact to lessen linear and rotational energy.
The Trek WaveCel Helmet Lawsuit, Explained|Joe Lindsey|February 10, 2021|Outside Online
In case you missed it, the central honeycomb stands for “Value”, which can only be fully achieved when all other surrounding factors are met.
Google algorithms vs Google penalties, explained by an ex-Googler|Pedro Dias|December 23, 2020|Search Engine Land

They do this by repairing the wax caps on the queens’ cells in the honeycomb.
Quacks and toots help young honeybee queens avoid deadly duels|Sharon Oosthoek|September 14, 2020|Science News For Students
This dish is based on the beautiful white honeycomb tripe, which comes from the second stomach, or the reticulum, of an ox.
What to Eat: Offal|Cookstr.com|January 26, 2010|DAILY BEAST
It was like honeycomb, the cells of which had been sliced by a knife; the shining metal brimmed over in the delicate quartz cells.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend|Charles Reade
You must have seen a "cob" of Indian corn some time, with all the flat yellow grains nestling in a honeycomb of little cells.
Round the Wonderful World|G. E. Mitton
All the wasps which I have hitherto described have their tiers of cells single: now, the honeycomb is invariably double.
International Weekly Miscellany, Vol. 1, No. 2, July 8, 1850|Various
Johnny started to take an apple out of his pack, then changed his mind and took a piece of honeycomb.
The Piebald Hippogriff|Karen Anderson
The piebald sniffed at the honeycomb, then jerked up its head to watch him suspiciously.
The Piebald Hippogriff|Karen Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for honeycomb

honeycomb

/ (ˈhʌnɪˌkəʊm) /

noun

a waxy structure, constructed by bees in a hive, that consists of adjacent hexagonal cells in which honey is stored, eggs are laid, and larvae develop

something resembling this in structure or appearance

zoology another name for reticulum (def. 2)

verb (tr)

to pierce or fill with holes, cavities, etc

to permeatehoneycombed with spies

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

honeycomb

Origin of honeycomb

Words nearby honeycomb

Words related to honeycomb

How to use honeycomb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for honeycomb