Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

queen bee

See more synonyms for queen bee on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a fertile female bee.
  2. a woman who is in a favored or preeminent position.
Show More

Origin of queen bee

First recorded in 1600–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

girl, queen, adult, female, drone, bumblebee, matron, doll, empress, bitch, rib, broad, dame, babe, baroness, petticoat, mistress, noblewoman, bag, missus

Examples from the Web for queen bee

Historical Examples

  • The Queen-Bee is the only perfect female in the hive, and all the eggs are laid by her.

    Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee

    L. L. Langstroth

  • Actually you are the queen-bee; with all your swarm about you.'

    The Heroine

    Eaton Stannard Barrett

  • I formerly related how the amputation of these affects the queen-bee.

  • "The queen-bee and the workers again," said she, as Jack closed the book.

    Hope Mills

    Amanda M. Douglas

  • She is the queen-bee of this country hive; and I—I am a harmless enough drone.

    The Book of Susan

    Lee Wilson Dodd

British Dictionary definitions for queen bee

queen bee

noun
  1. the fertile female bee in a hive
  2. informal a woman in a position of dominance or ascendancy over her peers or associates
Show More
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