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bumblebee definition

bumble·bee (bum′bəl bē′)

noun

any of a number of related large, hairy, yellow-and-black social bees (esp. genus Bombus)

Etymology: altered (by assoc. with ME bomblen, var. of bomben, to boom, buzz, of echoic orig.) < ME humbul-be < humbil, bumblebee (akin to Ger hummel < IE base *kem-, to hum, of echoic orig.) + be, bee

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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