drone : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: drone	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for drone
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
drone n stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen an unchanging intonation Synonym(s): monotone, drone, droning someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind Synonym(s): dawdler, drone, laggard, lagger, trailer, poke an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control Synonym(s): drone, pilotless aircraft, radio- controlled aircraft a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone Synonym(s): drone, drone pipe, bourdon v make a monotonous low dull sound; "The harmonium was droning on" talk in a monotonous voice Synonym(s): drone, drone on
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Drone \Drone\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Droned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Droning}.] [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G. dr[94]hnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Sw. dr[94]na to bellow, drone, Dan. dr[94]ne, Goth. drunjus sound, Gr. [?] dirge, [?] to cry aloud, Skr. dhran to sound. Cf. {Drone}, n.] 1. To utter or make a low, dull, monotonous, humming or murmuring sound. Where the beetle wheels his droning flight. --T. Gray. 2. To love in idleness; to do nothing. [bd]Race of droning kings.[b8] --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Drone \Drone\, n. [OE. drane a dronebee, AS. dr[be]n; akin to OS. dr[be]n, OHG. treno, G. drohne, Dan. drone, cf. Gr. [?] a kind of wasp, dial. Gr. [?] drone. Prob. named fr. the droning sound. See {Drone}, v. i.] 1. (Zo[94]l.) The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It gathers no honey. See {Honeybee}. All with united force combine to drive The lazy drones from the laborious hive. --Dryden. 2. One who lives on the labors of others; a lazy, idle fellow; a sluggard. By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and unworthy member of so noble and learned a society. -- Burton. 3. That which gives out a grave or monotonous tone or dull sound; as: (a) A drum. [Obs.] Halliwell. (b) The part of the bagpipe containing the two lowest tubes, which always sound the key note and the fifth. 4. A humming or deep murmuring sound. The monotonous drone of the wheel. --Longfellow. 5. (Mus.) A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition.
From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]:
drone n. Ignorant sales or customer service personnel in computer or electronics superstores. Characterized by a lack of even superficial knowledge about the products they sell, yet possessed of the conviction that they are more competent than their hacker customers. Usage: "That video board probably sucks, it was recommended by a drone at Fry's" In the year 2000, their natural habitats include Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, and CompUSA.