drone Hear it!

drone¹ Definition

drone (drōn)

noun

  1. a male bee or ant which serves only in a reproductive capacity and does no work
  2. an idle person who lives by the work of others; parasite; loafer
  3. a person whose work is routine, monotonous, etc.; drudge
  4. a pilotless airplane that is directed in flight by remote control

Etymology: ME < OE dran, akin to OS dran, MLowG drone < IE *dhren- < base *dher-, to buzz, hum > dor(beetle)

intransitive verb droned, dron·ing

to live in idleness; loaf

drone² Definition

drone (drōn)

intransitive verb droned, dron·ing

  1. to make a continuous and monotonous humming or buzzing sound
  2. to talk on and on in a dull, monotonous way

Etymology: LME dronen < drone

transitive verb

to utter in a dull, monotonous tone

noun

  1. a continuous and monotonous humming or buzzing sound
    1. a bagpipe
    2. any of the pipes of fixed tone in a bagpipe
    1. a bass voice or part, sustaining a single low tone
    2. such a tone

drone Synonyms

drone

n.

  1. A continuous sound

    hum, buzz, vibration; see noise 1.

  2. An idle person

    idler, loafer, parasite; see loafer.

drone Synonyms

drone

v.

drone Usage Examples

Object

  • guitar: Even the hint of a tune would have been lost beneath the shouted vocals and droning guitar.

Adjective modifier

  • unmanned: Iraqi gunners have shot down unmanned Predator spy drones.
  • pilotless: On 15 May Indonesian Special Forces members rescued the last nine hostages after locating them with a pilotless drone.
  • mindless: The mindless drone of people going to offices doing a job that they quite frankly hate.
  • steady: Get the help of someone who has won a number of premium prizes to pick a good set of steady drones.
  • constant: The constant drone of the art for art's sake zeppelin casts a long shadow over cultural policy.
  • continuous: Let instruments in the same range as the vocals stab or play a continuous drone.

Modifies a noun

  • brood: They should be replaced by a comb of drone brood, larvae or sealed, from a good colony.
  • reed: The drone reeds are usually like the ones in clarinets - single reeds.
  • aircraft: The Predator drone aircraft was on a reconnaissance mission, the Pentagon said.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • on: And we could actually drone on for quite awhile about studies linking more fat in the diet with better blood fats in athletes.

Preposition: of

  • bomber: By now, father and son could hear the threatening drone of the bombers as they approached Bath.
  • bee: Also in the air mixing with the drone of the bees was a series of ' yelps!
  • plane: Sounds from the street drift up, the drone of a plane drifts down.

Noun used with modifier

  • tenor: I make a Renaissance version by fitting a tenor drone in a common stock with the bass drone.
  • predator: Iraqi gunners have shot down unmanned Predator spy drones.
  • bass: The double bass drone can be of compact form with a triple bore in the lower joint or of full length for spectacular effect.
  • surveillance: In April 2006, Iran said it shot down a U.S. surveillance drone flying over the country.
  • keyboard: The keyboard drones and warp out effects are a bit too minimal to start with but build later on and really strengthen the material.
drone Quotes

Such a fatigue of adjectives, a drone of alliterations, a huffing of hyphenated words hurdling the meter like tired horses. Such a faded upholstery of tears, stars, bells, bones, flood and blood†a thud of consonants in tongue, night, dark, dust, seed, wound and wind.

—Broyard, Anatole

Browse dictionary entries near drone

  1. -dromous
  2. dromedary
  3. -drome
  4. drollery
  5. droll
  6. droit du seigneur
  7. droit
  8. droid
  9. drogue
  10. Drogheda
  1. drool
  2. droop
  3. droopy
  4. drop
  5. drop a hint
  6. drop a letter
  7. drop a line
  8. drop an idea
  9. drop back
  10. drop behind