1a. Any of several winged, hairy-bodied, usually stinging insects of the superfamily Apoidea in the order Hymenoptera, including both solitary and social species and characterized by sucking and chewing mouthparts for gathering nectar and pollen. b. A bumblebee. c. A honeybee. 2. A social gathering where people combine work, competition, and amusement: a quilting bee.
IDIOM:
a bee in (one's) bonnet1. An impulsive, often eccentric turn of mind; a notion. 2. An obsession.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English bo. See bhei- in Appendix I. Sense 2, perhaps alteration of dialectal bean, voluntary help given to a farmer by his neighbors, from Middle English bene, extra service by a tenant to his lord, from Old English bn, prayer. See bh-2 in Appendix I.
b
-2 in Appendix I.
dzin
