English Explanatory Dictionary

drone

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A male ant, bee, or wasp, which does not work but can fertilize the queen.
  2. One who does not work; a lazy person, an idler.
  3. One who performs menial or tedious work.
  4. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space.
  5. An aircraft operated by remote control, especially an uncrewed/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
  6. Any remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicle, especially when multiple such vehicles are operated from a larger vessel.
  7. Any watercraft on the water's surface that is remotely operated or autonomous.
  8. Any UGV (uncrewed ground vehicle).
  9. A Toyota HiAce or a similar van, especially one used by Ugandan state agents to kidnap opposition members.
  10. One who lacks the ability to think critically and independently, especially one who follows a group blindly; a non-player character.
  11. 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 drone (unmanned aircraft), or with a missile fired by a drone.
verb
  1. To produce a low-pitched hum or buzz.
  2. To speak in a monotone.
noun
  1. A low-pitched hum or buzz.
  2. One of the fixed-pitch pipes on a bagpipe.
  3. A genre of music that uses repeated lengthy droning sounds.
  4. A humming or deep murmuring sound.
noun
  1. The drug mephedrone.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/dɹəʊn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-drone.wav /dɹoʊn/

Word forms

drone drones droning droned

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

drudge UAV UAS OPV RPV FPV ROV ROUV UUV AUV USV ASV dronepipe drone music meow

Derived words

alimony drone antidrone combat drone counterdrone drone-athon drone-a-thon droneboarding drone fly Dronehenge droneless dronelike drone metal dronepipe dronescape dronesome Dronespace drone wall droney dronie dronification dronify dronish dronist dronology drony microdrone minidrone Nintendrone office drone suicide drone droningly drone on

Translations

Finnish: työläinen French: idiot utile French: dupe Indonesian: dengung Italian: gonzo Italian: zimbello Spanish: timado Turkish: köle
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