- a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
- Brit a person who lives off the work of others
- a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft
ˈdronish adj
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
drone1 /droʊn/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
drone2 /droʊn/USA pronunciation v., droned, dron•ing, n.
v. [no object]
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Insectsthe male of the honeybee and other bees.
- a craft operated by remote control:They sent the drone over enemy territory.
- a person who lives on the work of others;
a loafer. - a boring, uninteresting person.
drone2 /droʊn/USA pronunciation v., droned, dron•ing, n.
v. [no object]
- to make a continued, low, monotonous sound:We listened to the plane engine drone on until we fell asleep.
- to speak in or proceed in a dull, monotonous manner:[~ (+ on)]The meeting droned on for hours.
n. [countable]
- Music and Dancea musical instrument or one of its parts producing a continuous low tone, esp. a bagpipe.
- a monotonous low tone:the steady drone of the airplane.
drone1
(drōn),USA pronunciation n.
dron′ish, adj.
drone2 (drōn),USA pronunciation v., droned, dron•ing, n.
v.i.
v.t.
n.
dron′er, n.
dron′ing•ly, adv.
- Insectsthe male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey. See illus. under bee.
- a remote control mechanism, as a radio-controlled airplane or boat.
- a person who lives on the labor of others;
parasitic loafer. - a drudge.
- bef. 1000; 1945–50 for def. 2; Middle English drone, drane, Old English dran, dron; akin to Old High German treno, German Drohne
drone2 (drōn),USA pronunciation v., droned, dron•ing, n.
v.i.
- to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound;
hum;
buzz. - to speak in a monotonous tone.
- to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually fol. by on):The meeting droned on for hours.
v.t.
- to say in a dull, monotonous tone.
n.
- Music and Dance
- a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
- the pipes (esp. of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
- a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
- a monotonous low tone;
humming or buzzing sound. - a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.
- see drone1 and compare Middle English droun to roar, Icelandic drynja to bellow, Gothic drunjus noise 1490–1500
dron′ing•ly, adv.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
drone /drəʊn/ n
ˈdronish adj
ˈdronish adj
drone /drəʊn/ vb (intransitive) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum when intr, often followed by on: to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping n
- a monotonous low dull sound
- a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody
- (as modifier): a drone bass
- one of the single-reed pipes in a set of bagpipes, used for accompanying the melody played on the chanter
- a person who speaks in a low monotonous tone