bee

IPA/biː/
KK[bˈi]IPA/biː/

bee — noun

  • beesingular
  • beesplural

1. a small flying insect with yellow and black stripes on its body that gathers nec

1.nounA2
Definition

a small flying insect with yellow and black stripes on its body that gathers nectar from flowers, produces honey, and can give a painful sting when it feels threatened.

Example

Élise watched a fat bee crawl across the lavender flowers in her garden.

subject + watch + bee crawl across [flower]

Bees gather pollen from apple blossoms and carry it back to the hive.

bees gather pollen from [flower]

Common collocations
  • a swarm of bees
  • a worker bee
  • the queen bee
  • a bee sting
  • bees buzz
Synonyms
  • honeybee

    specifically the bee species that makes honey kept by beekeepers

  • bumblebee

    a larger, rounder, fuzzier wild bee

Grammar Patterns

a/the bee

swarm of bees

Usage Note

Often appears in fixed comparisons and idioms about activity or social organisation (busy as a bee, bee in your bonnet). Plural 'bees' is the default in general statements about the species.

Common Mistakes

A bee bited me on the arm.
A bee stung me on the arm.
bees sting; the verb is 'sting / stung', not 'bite'.
I saw many bee in the field.
I saw many bees in the field.
'bee' is countable; use the plural 'bees' after 'many'.

2. an organised gathering where people get together to do shared work, compete at a

2.nounB2
Definition

an organised gathering where people get together to do shared work, compete at a skill, or enjoy a hobby — common in American community life, for example a spelling bee or a quilting bee.

Example

Gabriel won the school spelling bee after correctly spelling 'rhododendron'.

spelling bee (the most common compound)

The neighbours held a quilting bee on Saturday to finish the baby blanket together.

hold a [activity] bee

Common collocations
  • spelling bee
  • quilting bee
  • sewing bee
  • husking bee
Synonyms
  • gathering

    general term; lacks the work-or-competition flavour of 'bee'

  • contest

    applies to the competitive type (spelling bee) but not to the cooperative type (quilting bee)

Grammar Patterns

a [type] bee

hold a bee

Usage Note

Mostly American English, usually appears in compounds: spelling bee, quilting bee, sewing bee, husking bee. The activity word comes directly before 'bee'.

Common Mistakes

I went to a bee of spelling.
I went to a spelling bee.
the activity word goes directly before 'bee', no preposition between them.
Idioms

as busy as a bee

idiom

extremely busy, moving constantly from one small task to the next without resting.

Since the twins were born, Sora has been as busy as a bee from dawn to bedtime.

Aylin was as busy as a bee in the kitchen, preparing food for thirty guests.

the bee's knees

idiom

an excellent person or thing — something or someone you think is wonderful (informal, slightly old-fashioned).

Diya thinks her new electric bike is the bee's knees.

Grandpa still says the local bakery's apple pie is the bee's knees.

the birds and the bees

idiom

the basic facts about sex and reproduction, especially as parents explain them to children.

Nadia's father finally sat her down and explained the birds and the bees.

Many parents feel awkward when it is time to talk about the birds and the bees with their kids.

have a bee in your bonnet

idiom

to keep thinking or talking about one idea because you believe it is very important, often more important than it really is.

Otis has a bee in his bonnet about cycling to work instead of driving.

Ever since the news report, Joshua has had a bee in his bonnet about food waste.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five are flying insects with a sting, but they differ in body shape, behaviour, and what they make. A 'bee' is the general everyday word for the small, fuzzy, yellow-and-black insect that visits flowers and produces honey; in most contexts a speaker means the 'honeybee', the social species kept in hives by beekeepers. A 'bumblebee' is a much larger, rounder, and hairier bee with a deep buzzing flight, usually nesting in small colonies in the ground. A 'wasp' is slimmer, smoother, brighter yellow, more aggressive, and does not make honey; people often confuse it with a bee when one lands on a picnic table. A 'hornet' is a large, powerful kind of wasp with a more serious sting. So at the supermarket you would buy honey from honeybees, fear the wasp circling your jam, and watch a bumblebee bounce between garden flowers.

bee ↗wasp ↗hornet ↗bumblebee ↗honeybee ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • bee sting
  • bee keeper
  • bee colony
  • bee hive

Phrases

  • the queen bee
  • busy as a bee

Prepositions

  • a swarm of bees
  • stung by a bee

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

The word goes back to Old English 'beo' (the insect), from a Proto-Germanic root shared with Dutch 'bij' and German 'Biene'. The modern meaning 'gathering for shared work or competition' is a separate American development from the early 1700s, probably influenced by the dialect word 'been' or 'bean' meaning neighbourly help, and later reinforced by the image of busy bees working together in a hive.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Noun (2)