What does "hive" mean?
A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.
Hive
/haɪv/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.
- Grammar: hive is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: beehive, a mass of, a world of, accumulate.
- Useful contrasts: calm, consolidate, free.
- Usage evidence: Bees communicate the location of food by carrying odor samples back to the hive.
How to use "hive"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hive" 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 "hive" 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 "hive" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hive" 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 "hive" is acting as noun, verb 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 "beehive" 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 "hive", 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 structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.
"First, for thy Bees a quiet Station find, / And lodge 'em under Covert of the Wind: / For Winds, when homeward they return, will drive / The loaded Carriers from their Ev'ning Hive."
- 2 An itchy, red, swollen area of the skin; singular or attributive form of hives.
"[…] if you are allergic to it, the skin produces a localized red, itchy reaction, a hive. The hive appears within minutes of the allergy skin test and lasts up to approximately 24 hours."
- 3 a man-made receptacle that houses a swarm of bees wordnet
- 4 The bees of one hive; a swarm of bees.
"When that the general is not like the hive, to whom the foragers shall all repair, what honey is expected?"
- 5 a teeming multitude wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A place swarming with busy occupants; a crowd.
"There the horde of Roman robbers mock at a barbarous adversary. / There the hive of Roman liars worship a gluttonous emperor-idiot."
- 7 a structure that provides a natural habitation for bees; as in a hollow tree wordnet
- 8 A section of the registry.
"Windows builds the registry from the five registry hives[…]"
Verb
- 1 To collect (bees) into a hive. transitive
"to hive a swarm of bees"
- 2 gather into a hive wordnet
- 3 To store (something other than bees) in, or as if in, a hive. transitive
"Hiving wisdom with each studious year."
- 4 move together in a hive or as if in a hive wordnet
- 5 To form a hive-like entity. intransitive
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 store, like bees wordnet
- 7 To take lodging or shelter together; to reside in a collective body. intransitive
"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. […]"
- 8 Of insects: to enter or possess a hive.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Bees communicate the location of food by carrying odor samples back to the hive."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hive"?
Common synonyms include: beehive, a mass of, a world of, accumulate, activity, aerie.
How do you use "hive" in a sentence?
Bees communicate the location of food by carrying odor samples back to the hive.
How do you pronounce "hive"?
Pronounced /haɪv/.
Etymology
From Middle English hyve, from Old English hȳf, from Proto-West Germanic *hūfi, from Proto-Indo-European *kuHp- (“water vessel”), from *kew- (“to bend, curve”). See also Dutch huif (“beehive”), Danish dialect huv (“ship’s hull”); also Latin cūpa (“tub, vat”), Ancient Greek κύπη (kúpē, “gap, hole”), κύπελλον (kúpellon, “beaker”), Sanskrit कूप (kū́pa, “cave”). Doublet of coupe, cup, and keeve. The computing term was chosen as an in-joke relating to bees; see https://web.archive.org/web/20150715222122/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/08/54618.aspx.