drone

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈdrəʊn/ 🇺🇸 /ˈdroʊn/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A male honeybee that does not work but can fertilize the queen bee.; An unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers.; A person who is lazy or idle; one who lives off the labor of others.; A continuous low humming sound.; A sustained musical note, especially a bass note held while other parts are played.
  2. verb
    To make a continuous low humming sound.; To speak in a monotonous tone.; To live idly; to be idle or lazy.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable / uncountable Plural: drones 3rd sing.: drones Past: droned Past part.: droned Pres part.: droning

Collocations

drone ondrone strikedrone attackdrone warfarethe drone of enginespilot a drone

Derivatives

droningdronelike

Synonyms

humbuzzmurmurUAVidlerloafer

Antonyms

workerachiever

Commonly confused

drown
EN: 'Drown' means to die or kill by submersion in water; 'drone' refers to a humming sound, a male bee, or an unmanned aircraft.
drone vs. droan
EN: 'Droan' is not a word; the correct spelling is 'drone' with a single 'o'.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'drone' with 'drown' (to suffocate in water). The word has a single 'o' and ends with a silent 'e'.

💬 Examples

  1. The drone's only purpose in the hive is to mate with the queen.

  2. The military deployed a drone to survey the area from above.

  3. He was considered a drone who never contributed anything to the household.

  4. The drone of the air conditioner made it hard to fall asleep.

  5. The bagpipes produced a constant drone beneath the melody.

  6. The bees droned lazily around the garden.

  7. The professor droned on for an hour without pausing.

  8. He droned through life without any ambition.