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drone

   Also found in: Legal, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
drone 1  (drn)
n.
1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee.
2. An idle person who lives off others; a loafer.
3. A person who does tedious or menial work; a drudge: "undervalued drones who labored in obscurity" (Caroline Bates).
4. A pilotless aircraft operated by remote control.

[Middle English, from Old English drn.]

drone 2  (drn)
v. droned, dron·ing, drones
v.intr.
1. To make a continuous low dull humming sound: "Somewhere an electric fan droned without end" (William Styron).
2. To speak in a monotonous tone: The lecturer droned on for hours.
3. To pass or act in a monotonous way.
v.tr.
To utter in a monotonous low tone: "The mosquitoes droned their angry chant" (W. Somerset Maugham).
n.
1. A continuous low humming or buzzing sound.
2. Music
a. Any of the pipes of a bagpipe that lack finger holes and produce a single tone.
b. A long sustained tone.
c. Any of various instruments that produce only a constant pitch.

[From drone (from the bee's humming sound).]

drone1
n
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology) a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
2. Brit a person who lives off the work of others
3. (Engineering / Aeronautics) a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft
[Old English drān; related to Old High German treno drone, Gothic drunjus noise, Greek tenthrēnē wasp; see drone2]
dronish  adj

drone2
vb
1. (intr) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum
2. (when intr, often foll by on) to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping
n
1. a monotonous low dull sound
2. (Music, other) Music
a.  a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody
b.  (as modifier) a drone bass
3. (Music / Instruments) 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
[related to drone1 and Middle Dutch drōnen, German dröhnen]
droning  adj
droningly  adv

drone  (drn)
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.

A land, sea, or air vehicle that is remotely or automatically controlled. See also remotely piloted vehicle; unmanned aerial vehicle.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.dronedrone - stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen
bee - any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
2.drone - an unchanging intonation
intonation, pitch contour, modulation - rise and fall of the voice pitch
3.dronedrone - someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
do-nothing, idler, layabout, loafer, bum - person who does no work; "a lazy bum"
lingerer, loiterer - someone who lingers aimlessly in or about a place
slowcoach, slowpoke, stick-in-the-mud, plodder - someone who moves slowly; "in England they call a slowpoke a slowcoach"
potterer, putterer - a person who putters about
straggler, strayer - someone who strays or falls behind
4.drone - an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control
heavier-than-air craft - a non-buoyant aircraft that requires a source of power to hold it aloft and to propel it
5.drone - a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone
bagpipe - a tubular wind instrument; the player blows air into a bag and squeezes it out through the drone
pipe - a tubular wind instrument
Verb1.drone - make a monotonous low dull sound; "The harmonium was droning on"
sound, go - make a certain noise or sound; "She went `Mmmmm'"; "The gun went `bang'"
2.drone - talk in a monotonous voice
mouth, speak, talk, verbalise, verbalize, utter - express in speech; "She talks a lot of nonsense"; "This depressed patient does not verbalize"

drone1
noun parasite, skiver (Brit. slang), idler, lounger, piker (Austral. & N.Z. slang), leech, loafer, couch potato (slang), scrounger (informal), sponger (informal), sluggard, bludger (Austral. & N.Z. informal) A few are dim-witted drones, but most are talented.

drone2
verb
hum, buzz, vibrate, purr, whirr, thrum An invisible plane drones through the night sky.
noun
hum, buzz, purr, vibration, whirr, whirring, thrum the constant drone of the motorway
drone on speak monotonously, drawl, chant, spout, intone, talk interminably Her voice droned on.
Translations
drone [drəʊn]
A. N
1. (= male bee) → zángano m
2. (= noise) [of bees, engine] → zumbido m; [of voice] → tono m monótono
3. (= sponger) → parásito/a m/f
B. VI [bee, engine, aircraft] → zumbar; [voice, person] (also drone on) → hablar monótonamente
he droned on and onhablaba y hablaba en tono monótono

drone [ˈdrəʊn]
vi
[bee] → bourdonner
[engine] → ronronner
(also drone on) [person] → parler d'une voix monocorde
n
(= noise) [insect] → bourdonnement m; [plane, traffic] → ronronnement m
(= male bee) → faux-bourdon m

drone
n
(= bee, fig) → Drohne f
(= sound, of bees) → Summen nt; (of engine, aircraft)Brummen nt
(= monotonous way of speaking)monotone Stimme
(Mus, = bass voice part) → Bass m; (of bagpipes)Brummer m; (sound) → Bordun(ton) m
(Aviat, = robot plane) → ferngesteuertes Flugzeug
vi
(bee)summen; (engine, aircraft)brummen
(= speak monotonously: also drone away or on) → eintönig sprechen; (in reciting) → leiern; he droned on and on for hourser redete stundenlang in seinem monotonen Tonfall; we had to listen to him droning on about politicswir mussten seinem monotonen Geschwafel über Politik zuhören (inf)

drone [drəʊn]
1. n
a. (male bee) → fuco, pecchione m
b. (noise, of bees, aircraft) → ronzio; (of voices) → brusio
2. vi (bee, engine, aircraft) → ronzare; (person) (also drone on) → continuare a parlare (in modo monotono); (voice) → continuare a ronzare

drone [drəʊn]
1. n
a. (male bee) → fuco, pecchione m
b. (noise, of bees, aircraft) → ronzio; (of voices) → brusio
2. vi (bee, engine, aircraft) → ronzare; (person) (also drone on) → continuare a parlare (in modo monotono); (voice) → continuare a ronzare

drone
n drone [drəun]
1 the male of the bee. hommel ذَكَر النَّحِل търтей trubec drone die Drohne κηφήνας zángano leskmesilane, isamesilane زنبور عسل نر kuhnuri faux-bourdon דָבּוּר नर मधुमक्खी trut here (méh) lebah jantan karlbÿfluga fuco 雄蜂 수펄 tranas trans lebah jantan hommel drone, hannbie truteń zangão trân­­tor трутень trúd trot trut drönare ผึ้งตัวผู้ erkek arı 雄蜂 трутень نر مکھی ong mật đực
2 a person who is lazy and idle. leeglêer شَخْص كَسول търтей lenoch dagdriver der Nichtstuer κηφήνας (μτφ.) zángano logard آدم تن پرور kuhnuri fainéant/-ante בַּטלָן कामचोर lijenčina semmittevő, here pemalas letingi, iðjuleysingi poltrone, fannullone 怠けもの 게으름쟁이 tranas liekēdis pemalas luilak latsabb, døgenikt truteń, leniuch malandro trântor тунеядец leňoch lenuh parazit drönare คนขี้เกียจ tembel kimse, asalak 懶漢 ледар نکھٹو ، نکما kẻ ăn không ngồi rồi
3 a deep, humming sound the distant drone of traffic. gedreun طَنين бръмчене hučení summen das Brummen βουητό ruido, zumbido sumin صدای بم humina bourdonnement זִמזוּם मधुमक्खी आदि की आवाज zujanje döngés dengungan drunur; suð brusio ブーンという音 (벌, 비행기 등이) ‘윙윙’거리는 소리 gausmas, ūžesys dūkšana; dūkoņa dengungan geronk summing, brumming brzęczenie zumbido zumzet гул hučanie brnenje zujanje surr, susande, brummande เสียงต่ำ ๆ vızıltı, uğultu 深沈的嗡嗡聲 дзижчання, гудіння بھنبھناہٹ tiếng o o
v
1 to make a low, humming sound An aeroplane droned overhead. dreun يَطِنُّ бръмча vrčet, hučet brumme brummen βουίζω zumbar sumisema, põrisema صدای بم ایجاد کردن humista bourdonner לְזַמזֵם भिनभिनाहट की आवाज करना brujati zúg mendengung suða; drynja ronzare, fare brusio ブーンという音をたてる ‘윙윙’거리는 소리를 내다 gausti, ūžti dūkt mendengung ronken summe, brumme buczeć zumbir a zumzăi гудеть hučať, bzučať brneti zujati surra ส่งเสียงหึ่ง ๆ vızıldamak, uğuldamak 發出嗡嗡聲 дзижчати, гудіти بھنبھنانا tạo ra âm thanh o o
2 to speak in a dull, boring voice The lecturer droned on and on. brom يَتَكَلَّمُ بِصَوْتٍ مُمِل говоря монотонно mluvit monotónně tale monotont eintönig reden μιλώ μονότονα hablar en tono monótono (monotoonselt) rääkima ملال آور ادا کردن puhua yksitoikkoisella äänellä parler d'une voix endormante לְבָרבֵּר בְּקוֹל מוֹנוֹטוֹנִי धीमी ऊबाउ आवाज में बोलना govoriti dosadnim glasom monoton hangon elmond mengoceh tala tilbreytingarlaust parlare in modo monotono, borbottare ものうげに言う 둔탁하고 단조로운 소리를 계속 내다 monotoniškai kalbėti, bambėti monotoni runāt mengoceh dreunen snakke monotont mówić monotonnym głosem desfiar uma cantilena a bolborosi бубнить monotónne hovoriť monotono govoriti mumlati mumla, tala entonigt ทำเสียงพึมพำน่าเบื่อ monoton bir sesle konuşmak 用單調沈悶的聲音說話 монотонно говорити یکساں لہجے میں بولنا nói giọng đều đều


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The young bee held it out in silence--unmistakably a drone leg incapable of packing pollen.
Boarham by name, Bore'em, as I prefer spelling it, for a terrible bore he was: I shudder still at the remembrance of his voice - drone, drone, drone, in my ear - while he sat beside me, prosing away by the half-hour together, and beguiling himself with the notion that he was improving my mind by useful information, or impressing his dogmas upon me and reforming my errors of judgment, or perhaps that he was talking down to my level, and amusing me with entertaining discourse.
That the usurer is the drone, that Virgil speaketh of;
 
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