Drone
WordNet
noun
(1) Stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen
(2) A pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone
(3) An aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control
(4) An unchanging intonation
(5) Someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
verb
(6) Talk in a monotonous voice
(7) Make a monotonous low dull sound
"The harmonium was droning on"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Old English drān ‘male bee’, from Germanic *dran-. Cognate with dialectal German Dräne.
Noun
- A male bee or wasp, which does not work but can fertilise the queen.
- A remotely controlled aircraft.
- A low-pitched hum or buzz.
- 1908: Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- He chanted as he flew and the car responded with sonorous drone.
- 1908: Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- One who performs menial or tedious work; a drudge.
- One of the fixed-pitch pipes on a bagpipe.