Word.ws English Dictionary

drone

/dɹəʊn/US/dɹoʊn/

drone noun: a male hymenopteran (ant, bee, hornet, or wasp), whose sole primary function is to mate with the queen.

drone: a male hymenopteran (ant, bee, hornet, or wasp), whose sole primary function is to mate with the...
Image: Guillaume Pelletier, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

drone (plural drones)

  1. A male hymenopteran (ant, bee, hornet, or wasp), whose sole primary function is to mate with the queen.
    • All with united force combine to drive / The lazy drones from the laborious hive.1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  2. (archaic) One who does not work; a lazy person, an idler.
    • 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. […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • he that gathereth not every day as much as I doe, the next day shall be set beyond the river, and be banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his conditions or starve.1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 117
  3. One who performs menial or tedious work.
    Synonyms:
    drudge
  4. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space.
    • aerial drones
    • sea drones
    1. An aircraft operated by remote control, especially an uncrewed/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
      • Near-synonyms: UAV, UAS, OPV, RPV, FPV
      • Several images of the compound were obtained via a drone overflight.
    2. Any remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicle, especially when multiple such vehicles are operated from a larger vessel.
      • Near-synonyms: ROV, ROUV, UUV, AUV
      • 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.1946, Seventh United States Army in France and Germany, Report of Operations, volume 1, page 73
    3. Any watercraft on the water's surface that is remotely operated or autonomous.
      • Near-synonyms: USV (remotely operated), ASV (autonomous)
    4. Any UGV (uncrewed ground vehicle).
  5. (Uganda) A Toyota HiAce or a similar van, especially one used by Ugandan state agents to kidnap opposition members.
    • 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.2021 February 4, Alex Mugasha, “Why Uganda's security agencies have fallen in love with the "Drone" van”, in Nile Post
    • He has been arrested several times, transported in drone vans and brutalized in various detention facilities.2021 February 4, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, “Horror inside a kidnap drone”, in The Observer
  6. (derogatory, slang) One who lacks the ability to think critically and independently, especially one who follows a group blindly; a non-player character.
    • 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...2009 December 18, Benway (original non-Zionist), “Shocking Jewish faggot property pimp attack on Australia”, in aus.politics (Usenet)
    • Instead, you got into lockstep with all the other hive-mind libtard drones and voted for the slimy corrupt scumbag bitch who was under *two* active Congressional investigations (a first in history, BTW), Hitlery Clinton.2017 January 19, The Party Of Trump (The Party For Winners), “Re: Clinton Cash”, in alt.checkmate (Usenet)
  7. 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)

drone (third-person singular simple present drones, present participle droning, simple past and past participle droned)

  1. (colloquial, transitive) To kill or destroy with a drone (unmanned aircraft), or with a missile fired by a drone.
    • "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."2014, Colin Campbell, “Bill Ayers To Obama: 'Stop Droning People'”, in Business Insider
    • “He won’t be waging wars all the world ― he’ll be waging ‘warsuits,’” Noah said. “Droning people with subpoenas all over the globe.”2016, David Moye, “Trevor Noah: If Trump Is Elected, He’ll Wage ‘Warsuits’”, in Huffington Post

Verb (2)

drone (third-person singular simple present drones, present participle droning, simple past and past participle droned)

  1. To produce a low-pitched hum or buzz.
  2. To speak in a monotone.

Noun (2)

drone (plural drones)

  1. A low-pitched hum or buzz.
    • He chanted as he flew and the car responded with sonorous drone.1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
  2. One of the fixed-pitch pipes on a bagpipe.
    Synonyms:
    dronepipe
  3. (uncountable) A genre of music that uses repeated lengthy droning sounds.
    Synonyms:
    drone music
  4. A humming or deep murmuring sound.
    • The monotonous drone of the wheel.1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II)

Noun (3)

drone (uncountable)

  1. (UK, slang) The drug mephedrone.
    Synonyms:
    meow

Proper noun capitalized: Drone

Drone (plural Drones)

  1. A surname.

drone meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

drone in Hindi

unmanned aircraft
मानव रहित विमान mānav rahit vimān

drone in Tamil

ஆளில்லா வான்கலம், விமானியில்லாத விமானம், வலவனிலா வானூர்தி, கணினியின் இசையைக் கேட்க பயனாகும், துணை, மின்வண்டு வன்பொருள்

drone in Marathi

unmanned aircraft
ड्रोन ḍron

drone in Urdu

unmanned aircraft
بَغَیْر پائِلَٹ کی فَضائی گاڑی baġayr pāilaṭ kī fazāī gāṛī, ڈْرون ḍron, بَعِید مُنْضَبِط طَیَّارَہ ba'īd munzabit tayyāra
More languagesFewer languages
drone in Bengali
গুঞ্জন, একঘেয়ে শব্দ, চালকহীন বিমান, পুরুষ মৌমাছি
drone in Telugu
డ్రోన్, డ్రోన్ను
drone in Malayalam
ആൺതേനീച്ച āṇtēnīcca
drone in Kannada
ಗಂಡು ಜೇನುಹು, ಮಯ್ಗಳ್ಳ, ಸೋಂಬ, ಸಿಡಿದುಂಬಿ
drone in Punjabi
ਡਰੋਨ, ਡਰੌਨ
drone in Gujarati
ડ્રોન
drone in Odia
ଡ୍ରୋନ, ଡ୍ରୋନ୍
drone in Nepali
ड्रोन, ड्रोनलाई
drone in Arabic
يَعْسُوب yaʕsūb, يَمْخُور yamḵūr, مُسَيَّرَة musayyara, طَائِرَة بِدُونِ طَيَّار
drone in Indonesian
lebah jantan, dron, dengung
drone in Thai
อากาศยานไร้คนขับ aa-gàat-sà-yaan-rái-kon-kàp, โดรน droon
drone in Vietnamese
máy bay không người lái
drone in Myanmar
ပျားထီး pya:hti:, ဒရုန်း da.run:

Examples of drone in a sentence

  • One team member launched a camera drone over the Third Pole.
  • by living as a drone, to be an unprofitable or unworthy member of so learned and noble a society1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield...
  • A radio controlled drone, it will make the journey with its mother ship, another Fortress, as part of the Experimental Guided Missiles Group contribution to the demonstration.1948 September, “Air Force Day”, in U.S. Air Services, page 6:
  • A supplier many miles away would then take the part to the local matternet station for airborne dispatch via drone.2012 December 1, “An internet of airborne things”, in The Economist, volume 405, number 8813, page 3:
  • In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones.2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:

All 40 example sentences with drone

Synonyms of drone

5 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of drone

Forms of drone

Noun
pluraldrones
Verb
third-person singular presentdrones
present participledroning
past participledroned
pastdroned
Proper noun
pluralDrones

Plural of drone: drones

Origin of drone

From Middle English drane, dron, drone, from Old English drān, drǣn, from Proto-West Germanic *drānu, from Proto-Germanic *drenô, *drēnuz (“drone”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n- (“bee, drone, hornet”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Droane (“drone”), Dutch dar (“drone”), German Drohne (“drone”), Limburgish dreen, Droon (“drone”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk drone (“drone”), Swedish drönare (“drone”); also Belarusian тру́цень (trúcjenʹ, “drone”), Bulgarian търтей (tărtej, “drone”), Czech trubec (“drone”), Macedonian трут (trut, “drone”), Polish trąd, trut, truteń (“drone”), Russian and Ukrainian тру́тень (trútenʹ, “drone”), Serbo-Croatian тру̑т, trȗt (“drone”), Slovak trúd (“drone”), Slovene trot (“drone”). The etymology of the sense of "remote-controlled aircraft" is disputed; theories include early military UAVs dumbly flying on preset paths.

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”).

* 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.

Words formed from drone

Phrases with drone

Words that rhyme with drone

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about drone

What does drone mean?
Drone means a male hymenopteran (ant, bee, hornet, or wasp), whose sole primary function is to mate with the queen.
What is drone in Hindi?
Drone in Hindi is मानव रहित विमान (mānav rahit vimān). See Drone meaning in Hindi.
How do you use drone in a sentence?
One team member launched a camera drone over the Third Pole.
What part of speech is drone?
Drone can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce drone?
Drone is pronounced /dɹəʊn/ (UK).
What is the plural of drone?
The plural of drone is drones.

Words near drone in the dictionary

  1. dromæosaurids
  2. dromæosaurs
  3. Dron
  4. Drona
  5. dronabinol
  6. drone
  7. drone flies
  8. drone fly
  9. drone metal
  10. drone music
  11. drone on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drone (page history and authors); Drone (page history and authors); drone (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Drone (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); drone (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); drone (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); drone (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); drone (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); drone (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); drone (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-drone.wav.

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