bee

noun
/ˈbiː/

A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.

Other meanings

A contest, especially for spelling; see .
A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.

Kinds of bee

drone
honeybee
carpenter bee
mining bee
alkali bee
leaf-cutting bee
potter bee

Example sentences

“Sawflies are related to ants, bees, and wasps.”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“Bees are fuzzy, while wasps are smooth.”
Tatoeba · Miktsoanit · CC0
“Whoever has a bee farm expects to be stung.”
Tatoeba · AmarMecheri · CC0

Word history

From Old English "bēo".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “bee” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.