Word.ws English Dictionary

buzz

/bʌz/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/bʊz/

buzz noun: a continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.

Noun

buzz (countable and uncountable, plural buzzes)

  1. A continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
    • Immediately there was a ringing and a singing in the hills, and then a whispering and a lisping and a whiz and a buzz all about him, for the little people were now some whirling round and round in the dance, and others sporting and tumbling about in the moonshine, and playing a thousand merry...1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 289
    • In the steady buzz of flies the homeward-bound agent was lying flushed and insensible[.]1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 209
  2. A whisper.
  3. The audible friction of voiced consonants.
  4. (informal) A rush or feeling of energy or excitement; a feeling of slight intoxication.
    • Still feeling the buzz from the coffee, he pushed through the last of the homework.
  5. (informal) A telephone call or e-mail.
    • Now, don't waste time, give us a buzz -- quick! 825-4703 or 265-7881.1983 April 9, “Clearly Womyn's Space (classified advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 15
  6. (informal) Major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes.
    • Mr. Hall? The buzz on Christian is that his parents have joint custody, so he'll be spending one semester in Chicago and one semester here.1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Cher (Alicia Silverstone)
    • I wasn't performing with Pimp and Smoove that much no more, but I had a solo deal with Ruthless Rap and a brand new mixtape that was creating a big buzz.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 103
  7. (uncountable) Synonym of fizz-buzz (“counting game”).
    Synonyms:
    fizz-buzz

Verb

buzz (third-person singular simple present buzzes, present participle buzzing, simple past and past participle buzzed)

  1. (intransitive) To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings.
    • Ah! the singing, fatal arrow, / Like a wasp it buzzed, and stung him [a roebuck]!1855 November 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Childhood”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 47
    • So that now the universe has escaped from the pin which was pushed through it, like an impaled fly vainly buzzing: now that the multiple universe flies its own complicated course quite free, and hasn't got any hub, we can hope also to escape.1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Holy Family”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 14
    1. (broadly, intransitive) To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
      • However these disturbers of our peace / Buzz in the people's ears.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    2. (intransitive) Of a group of people, to talk about some interesting topic excitedly.
      • But I tell you this has set all London buzzing. The old man is where he likes to be, with a pin-point limelight right on his hairy old head.1928 February 25 – March 3, Arthur Conan Doyle, “When the World Screamed”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 570
    3. (intransitive) To fly while making such a sound.
      • A fly was buzzing past me.
      • The flies, lethargic with the autumn, were beginning to buzz into the room.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
  2. (colloquial) To show a high level of activity and haste, energization or excitement, to be busy as a bee in one’s actions but perhaps mentally charged.
    • The room was buzzing with excitement.
  3. (transitive) To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly.
    • I will buzz abroad such prophecies / That Edward shall be fearful of his life.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  4. (transitive) To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
  5. (also, figuratively, transitive) To fly at high speed and at a very low altitude over (an area), as to make a surprise pass.
    • buzzing around in small cars that dodged through traffic
    • […] an asteroid a mere 15-20 metres across exploded with the force of a medium-sized atom bomb over Chelyabinsk, in Russia, and another, much larger one buzzed Earth a few hours later.2013, The Economist, Stopping asteroid strikes: Defenders of the Earth
  6. (transitive) To cut (the hair) in a close-cropped military style, or buzzcut.
    • Deacon said, “You used to beg me to let you buzz your hair when you were little.” “And then I grew up and realized how awful you looked when you buzzed yours.”2012, Ellen Hartman, Out of Bounds, page 130
  7. (transitive) To throw swiftly.
    • I have mentioned her deft hand with a stone — well, as soon as our backs were turned she buzzed a stone to clip Joe's ear.2013, Felix Gilman, The Rise of Ransom City
  8. (archaic, transitive) To drink to the bottom.
    • He buzzed the bottle with such a hearty good will as settled the fate of another, which Soapey rang for as a matter of course. There was but the rejected one, which however Spigot put into a different decanter and brought in […]1849, The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register
  9. (transitive) To communicate with (a person) by means of a buzzer.
    • Then one day my secretary buzzed me and said Frank Sinatra was on the phone. When I picked up the phone it was the Chief who played dumb and would not admit that he said he was Frank Sinatra.2012, Steven Joseph Sinopoli, The Seventh House, page 66

Proper noun capitalized: Buzz

Buzz

  1. A male given name, pet form of Busby

buzz meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali

buzz in Hindi

to buzz, hum
गूंजना gūñjnā

buzz in Tamil

ரீங்காரம், கலகலப்பு, முரலொலி, சலசலப்பு

buzz in Marathi

to buzz, hum
भणभणणे bhaṇbhaṇṇe

buzz in Bengali

buzz, murmur, hum
ঝঙ্কার jhoṅkar
buzz
ভনভন bhonbhon
More languagesFewer languages
buzz in Telugu
కలకలము kalakalamu, ఝంకరించు jhaṅkariñcu, ఝంకృతి jhaṅkr̥ti
buzz in Malayalam
മൂളൽ, മൂളുക
buzz in Kannada
ಝೇಂಕಾರ, ದುಂಬಿಯ ಶಬ್ದ, ಸಂಭ್ರಮ, ಸಡಗರ
buzz in Odia
ଗୁଞ୍ଜଳ, ଗୁଞ୍ଜନା
buzz in Sanskrit
गुञ्जति guñjati
buzz in Nepali
बज, बज्
buzz in Pashto
بوزېدل buzedə́l, بوڼېدل buṇedə́l, بنګېدل bəngedə́l
buzz in Tagalog
buhag
buzz in Arabic
طَنَّ ṭanna
buzz in Malay
dengung
buzz in Indonesian
dengung, berdengung, berdenging
buzz in Vietnamese
vo vo, vù vù

Examples of buzz in a sentence

  • Buzz Lightyear has taken over Woody as the most popular children's toy.
  • He swatted the mosquito that was buzzing around in his bedroom.
  • The bee was flying around my head, but then it buzzed off.

All 40 example sentences with buzz

Synonyms of buzz

Forms of buzz

Noun
pluralbuzzes
Verb
third-person singular presentbuzzes
present participlebuzzing
past participlebuzzed
pastbuzzed

Past tense of buzz: buzzed

Plural of buzz: buzzes

Origin of buzz

From Middle English *bussen (suggested by Middle English bussyng (“buzzing”)), of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Scots bizz (“to buzz”). Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).

Words formed from buzz

Phrases with buzz

Words that rhyme with buzz

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about buzz

What does buzz mean?
Buzz means a continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
What is buzz in Hindi?
Buzz in Hindi is गूंजना (gūñjnā). See Buzz meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is buzz?
Buzz can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce buzz?
Buzz is pronounced /bʌz/.
What is the plural of buzz?
The plural of buzz is buzzes.

Words near buzz in the dictionary

  1. buzukis
  2. buzuq
  3. buzuqs
  4. buzurg
  5. buzurgs
  6. buzz
  7. buzz about
  8. buzz bar
  9. buzz bars
  10. buzz bomb
  11. buzz bombs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: buzz (page history and authors); Buzz (page history and authors); गूंजना (Hindi) (page history and authors); buzz (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); भणभणणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); ঝঙ্কার (Bengali) (page history and authors); కలకలము (Telugu) (page history and authors); buzz (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); buzz (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); buzz (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); buzz (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); بنګېدل (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-buzz.ogg.

Cite this entry: “buzz.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buzz. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.