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⇱ drone - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

drone

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈdrəʊn/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/droʊn/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(drōn)

Inflections of 'drone' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
drones
v 3rd person singular
droning
v pres p
droned
v past
droned
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
drone1 /droʊn/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Insectsthe male of the honeybee and other bees.
  2. a craft operated by remote control:They sent the drone over enemy territory.
  3. a person who lives on the work of others;
    a loafer.
  4. a boring, uninteresting person.

drone2 /droʊn/USA pronunciation   v., droned, dron•ing, n. 
v. [no object]
  1. to make a continued, low, monotonous sound:We listened to the plane engine drone on until we fell asleep.
  2. to speak in or proceed in a dull, monotonous manner:[~ (+ on)]The meeting droned on for hours.

n. [countable]
  1. Music and Dancea musical instrument or one of its parts producing a continuous low tone, esp. a bagpipe.
  2. a monotonous low tone:the steady drone of the airplane.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
drone1  (drōn),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Insectsthe male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey. See illus. under bee. 
  2. a remote control mechanism, as a radio-controlled airplane or boat.
  3. a person who lives on the labor of others;
    parasitic loafer.
  4. a drudge.
  • bef. 1000; 1945–50 for def. 2; Middle English drone, drane, Old English dran, dron; akin to Old High German treno, German Drohne
dron′ish, adj. 

drone2  (drōn),USA pronunciation v., droned, dron•ing, n. 
v.i. 
  1. to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound;
    hum;
    buzz.
  2. to speak in a monotonous tone.
  3. to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually fol. by on):The meeting droned on for hours.

v.t. 
  1. to say in a dull, monotonous tone.

n. 
  1. Music and Dance
    • a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
    • the pipes (esp. of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
    • a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
  2. a monotonous low tone;
    humming or buzzing sound.
  3. a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.
  • see drone1 and compare Middle English droun to roar, Icelandic drynja to bellow, Gothic drunjus noise 1490–1500
dron′er, n. 
dron′ing•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
drone /drəʊn/ n
  1. a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
  2. Brit a person who lives off the work of others
  3. a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft
Etymology: Old English drān; related to Old High German treno drone, Gothic drunjus noise, Greek tenthrēnē wasp; see drone2
ˈdronish adj
drone /drəʊn/ vb
  • (intransitive) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum
  • when intr, often followed by on: to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping
    •  n
    1. a monotonous low dull sound
      • a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody
      • (as modifier): a drone bass
    3. one of the single-reed pipes in a set of bagpipes, used for accompanying the melody played on the chanter
    4. a person who speaks in a low monotonous tone
    Etymology: 16th Century: related to drone1 and Middle Dutch drōnen, German dröhnenˈdroning adj
    'drone' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
    Collocations: just another [corporate, office] drone, the [professor, boss] droned on and on, don't want to [be, become] [a corporate] drone, more...

    🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "drone" in the title:

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    Look up "drone" at Merriam-Webster
    Look up "drone" at dictionary.com
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