Drone

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Drone \Drone\ (dr[=o]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Droned}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Droning}.] [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G.
     dr["o]hnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Sw.
     dr["o]na to bellow, drone, Dan. dr["o]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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Where the beetle wheels his droning flight. --T.
                                                    Gray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To love in idleness; to do nothing. "Race of droning
        kings." --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Drone \Drone\, n. [OE. drane a dronebee, AS. dr[=a]n; akin to
     OS. dr[=a]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. (Zool.) The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It gathers
        no honey. See {Honeybee}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All with united force combine to drive
              The lazy drones from the laborious hive. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One who lives on the labors of others; a lazy, idle
        fellow; a sluggard.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and
              unworthy member of so noble and learned a society.
                                                    -- Burton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A humming or deep murmuring sound.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The monotonous drone of the wheel.    --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Mus.) A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  drone
       n 1: stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially
            honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen
       2: an unchanging intonation [syn: {monotone}, {droning}]
       3: someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags
          behind [syn: {dawdler}, {laggard}, {lagger}, {trailer}]
       4: an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote
          control [syn: {pilotless aircraft}, {radio-controlled
          aircraft}]
       5: a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single
          continuous tone [syn: {drone pipe}, {bourdon}]
       v 1: make a monotonous low dull sound; "The harmonium was droning
            on"
       2: talk in a monotonous voice [syn: {drone on}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  237 Moby Thesaurus words for "drone":
     Indian file, accompaniment, alliteration, alto, array,
     articulation, assonance, bagpipe, bagpipes, bank, baritone, bass,
     basso continuo, basso ostinato, bassus, bee, beggar, birr, blubber,
     bombilate, bombinate, boom, bourdon, bum, bumble, bumblebee,
     bummer, burden, burr, buzz, cadger, canto, cantus,
     cantus figuratus, cantus planus, catena, catenation, chain,
     chain reaction, chaining, chanter, chest voice, chime,
     clockwork regularity, coloratura, concatenation, connection,
     consecution, constancy, continue the same, continuo, continuum,
     contralto, cornemuse, coupon clippers, course, cycle, daily round,
     dawdle, dawdler, descant, descent, dingdong, doodlesack,
     drag along, drag on, drone bass, droning, endless belt,
     endless round, even pace, even tenor, falsetto, figured bass, file,
     filiation, foot-dragger, freeloader, gabble, gamut, gibber,
     gibbering, goldbrick, goof-off, gradation, ground bass, harping,
     head voice, honeybee, hornet, hum, humdrum, idle rich,
     invariability, jabber, jibber, jingle, jingle-jangle, laggard,
     lallygag, laze, leisure class, lie-abed, line, lineage, lingerer,
     loaf, loiter, loiterer, loll, lounge, lounge lizard,
     lumpen proletariat, maunder, maundering, mendicant, monologue,
     monotone, monotonousness, monotony, moocher, mouth, mouthing,
     mumble, mumbling, murmur, murmuring, musette, mutter, muttering,
     near rhyme, nexus, nonworker, orderliness, panhandler, parasite,
     part, pendulum, periodicity, persist, pipes, pitter-patter,
     plain chant, plain song, plenum, plodder, powder train, prevail,
     prick song, procrastinator, progression, purr, queen, queen bee,
     queue, range, rank, recurrence, regularity, rentiers,
     repeated sounds, repetitiousness, repetitiveness, reticulation,
     rhyme, rotation, round, routine, row, run, run through, sameliness,
     sameness, scale, sequence, series, single file, singsong,
     slant rhyme, sleepyhead, slow goer, slow-foot, slowbelly, slowpoke,
     slug, sluggard, smoothness, snail, sob, soprano, sordellina,
     speak incoherently, spectrum, spiv, splutter, sponger, sputter,
     stale repetition, stick-in-the-mud, string, strum, succession,
     susurrate, susurration, swath, tedium, tenor, the unemployable,
     the unemployed, thorough bass, thread, thrum, tier, tortoise,
     train, treadmill, treble, trot, undersong, undeviation,
     undifferentiation, union pipes, unnecessary repetition,
     unvariation, voce, voce di petto, voce di testa, voice, voice part,
     wasp, whir, whisper, whispering, whiz, windrow, worker,
     yellow jacket
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [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.