bee Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
  2. noun a social gathering to carry out some communal task or to hold competitions

WordNet

Bee
Definitions
  1. p. p. of Be; -- used for been. Obs. Spenser.
Bee noun
Etymology
AS. beó; akin to D. bij and bije, Icel. b, Sw. & Dan. bi, OHG. pini, G. biene, and perh. Ir. beach, Lith. bitis, Skr. bha.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) An insect of the order Hymenoptera, and family Apidæ (the honeybees), or family Andrenidæ (the solitary bees.) See Honeybee. ✍ There are many genera and species. The common honeybee (Apis mellifica) lives in swarms, each of which has its own queen, its males or drones, and its very numerous workers, which are barren females. Besides the A. mellifica there are other species and varieties of honeybees, as the A. ligustica of Spain and Italy; the A. Indica of India; the A. fasciata of Egypt. The bumblebee is a species of Bombus. The tropical honeybees belong mostly to Melipoma and Trigona.
  2. A neighborly gathering of people who engage in united labor for the benefit of an individual or family; as, a quilting bee; a husking bee; a raising bee. U. S.
    The cellar . . . was dug by a bee in a single day. S. G. Goodrich.
  3. pl. Prob. fr. AS. beáh ring, fr. bgan to bend. See 1st Bow. (Naut.) Pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through; -- called also bee blocks.

Webster 1913