What does "drone" mean?
A male ant, bee, or wasp, which does not work but can fertilize the queen.
Drone
/dɹəʊn/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A male ant, bee, or wasp, which does not work but can fertilize the queen.
- Grammar: drone is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: accompaniment, airplane, alliteration, alto.
- Useful contrasts: achiever, bee, chanter.
- Usage evidence: Long story short, she’s on the No Fly List and we might have been followed here by drone.
How to use "drone"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "drone" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "drone" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "drone" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "drone" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "drone" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accompaniment" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "drone", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A male ant, bee, or wasp, which does not work but can fertilize the queen.
"All with united force combine to drive / The lazy drones from the laborious hive."
- 2 A low-pitched hum or buzz.
"He chanted as he flew and the car responded with sonorous drone."
- 3 The drug mephedrone. UK, slang, uncountable
- 4 stingless male bee in a colony of social bees (especially honeybees) whose sole function is to mate with the queen wordnet
- 5 One who does not work; a lazy person, an idler. archaic
"SHYLOCK: / The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, / Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day / More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me; / Therefore I part with him; and part with him / To one what I would have him help to waste / His borrowed purse. […]"
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 One of the fixed-pitch pipes on a bagpipe.
- 7 a pipe of the bagpipe that is tuned to produce a single continuous tone wordnet
- 8 One who performs menial or tedious work.
- 9 A genre of music that uses repeated lengthy droning sounds. uncountable
- 10 an aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control wordnet
- 11 A remotely operated vehicle.; An aircraft operated by remote control, especially an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
"Several images of the compound were obtained via a drone overflight."
- 12 A humming or deep murmuring sound.
"The monotonous drone of the wheel."
- 13 an unchanging intonation wordnet
- 14 A remotely operated vehicle.; Any remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), especially when multiple such vehicles are operated from a larger vessel.
"The Apex boat is a small radio-controlled craft which tows, at an angle, two Drone boats. The latter are small craft filled with explosives to be detonated from the control radio of the Apex boat."
- 15 someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind wordnet
- 16 A Toyota HiAce or a similar van, especially one used by Ugandan state agents to kidnap opposition members. Uganda
"The van is locally referred to as "a drone" because it is compact and stable under extreme conditions. It is also very fast. Technically though, it is a Toyota Hiace, which is usually used for commercial purposes."
- 17 One who lacks the ability to think critically and independently, especially one who follows a group blindly; a non-player character. derogatory, slang
"The billionaire-friendly media drones and frenzied multiculturalist politicians are imposing "vibrant" third world social violence onto Australians, and Australians don't get to vote against this "bipartisan" conspiracy. The hyperactive globalist politicians and media drones might find themselves facing firing squads if they don't change their corrupt ways."
- 18 In dronification kink, one who is mindless and obedient to a dominant, characterized by a detached and robotic identity and an anonymous appearance, typically composed of a latex suit and gas mask.
Verb
- 1 To kill or destroy with a missile fired by unmanned aircraft. colloquial, transitive
""I have a lot of advice for him," Ayers said in the interview, aired Tuesday night. "I want him to stop droning people. I want him to close Guantanamo. I want universal healthcare. Don't you think we deserve universal healthcare? Seriously.""
- 2 To produce a low-pitched hum or buzz.
- 3 talk in a monotonous voice wordnet
- 4 To speak in a monotone.
- 5 make a monotonous low dull sound wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Long story short, she’s on the No Fly List and we might have been followed here by drone."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "drone"?
Common synonyms include: accompaniment, airplane, alliteration, alto, ambient hum, array.
How do you use "drone" in a sentence?
Long story short, she’s on the No Fly List and we might have been followed here by drone.
How do you pronounce "drone"?
Pronounced /dɹəʊn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English drane, from Old English drān, from Proto-West Germanic *drānu, from Proto-Germanic *drēniz, *drēnuz, *drenô (“an insect, drone”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n- (“bee, drone, hornet”). Cognate with Danish drone (“drone”), Dutch dar (“male bee or wasp”), German Drohne, dialectal German Dräne, Trehne, Trene (“drone”), Low German drone (“drone”), Swedish drönje, drönare (“drone”). The etymology of the sense of "remote-controlled aircraft" is disputed; theories include early military UAVs dumbly flying on preset paths.
Etymology 2
From Middle English drounen (“to roar, bellow”), from Proto-West Germanic *drunnjan, from Proto-Germanic *drunjaną (“to drone, roar, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to roar, hum, drone”). Cognate with Scots drune (“to drone, moan, complain”), Dutch dreunen (“to drone, boom, thud”), Low German drönen (“to drone, buzz, hum”), German dröhnen (“to roar, boom, rumble”), Danish drøne (“to roar, boom, peel out”), Swedish dröna (“to low, bellow, roar”), Icelandic drynja (“to roar”).
Etymology 3
* As a German surname, spelling variant of Drohne, a city in Westphalia. * As an English surname, spelling variant of Drane. * As an Irish surname, spelling variant of Drohan; as a Scottish Gaelic surname, spelling variant of Dron in Perthshire.