buzzeth

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
   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.
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...

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