bee

Meanings

Plural: been, bees

Noun

• any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
• a social gathering to carry out some communal task or to hold competitions
• A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
• Any stinging flying insect, especially a wasp.
• A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
• A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
• A ring or torque; a bracelet.
• The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
• Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.

Verb

• Obsolete spelling of be.
• past participle of be; been

Synonyms

bee block, king of insects

Related Words

a, aitch, ambrosia, apian, apiarian, apiarist, apiary, apiculture, apidictor, apimania, apiology, apitherapy, ar, archaeognathan, bee escape, bee smoker, beebread, beehive, beehouse, beekeeping, beeswax, beetle, Beowulf, blattodean, booklice, butterflies and moth, caddis flies, cee, chalkbrood, cockroach and termite, coleopteran, colony collapse disorder, corbicula, cue, damselflies and dragonflies, dee, dermapteran, dipteran, double-u, drone, dumbledore, duplet, e, earwig, ef, el, em, embiopteran, en, ephemeropteran, ess, eusocial, ex, flea, flies, foulbrood, gee, grylloblattodean, hemipteran, hive, honey, honey extractor, honeycomb, hornet, hymenopteran, i, ice crawler, jay, jumping bristletail, kay, Langstroth hive, lepidopteran, letter, mantis, mantodean, mantophasmid, mayflies, mecopteran, megalopteran, neuropteran, nosema, o, odonatan, orthopteran, pee, phasmatodean, plecopteran, pollinator, propolis, psocodean, queen, queen bee, queen-cage, raphidiopteran, royal jelly, sacbrood, sarothrum, scopa, scorpionflies, silverfish, siphonapteran, skep, snakeflies, stick insect, sting, stonebrood, stoneflies, strepsipteran, super, swarm, tee, thrips, thysanopteran, topbar, tremble dance, trichopteran, true bug, u, varroa, vee, waggle dance, wasp, webspinner, worker, worker bee, wye, zed, zee, zorapteran, zygentoman