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drone |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. (Zo["o]l.) The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It gathers no honey. See {Honeybee}. All with united force combine to drive The lazy drones from the laborious hive. --Dryden. 2. One who lives on the labors of others a lazy, idle fellow; a sluggard. By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and unworthy member of so noble and learned a society. -- Burton. 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 4. A humming or deep murmuring sound. The monotonous drone of the wheel. --Longfellow. 5. (Mus.) A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Drone \Drone\, 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. Where the beetle wheels his droning flight. --T. Gray. 2. To love in idleness; to do nothing. ``Race of droning kings.'' --Dryden. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: drone n 1: stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (esp. 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 [syn: {dawdler}, {laggard}] 4: a pilotless aircraft 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 2: talk in a monotonous voice [syn: {drone on}] From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) [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
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