bee

plural bees · dialectal plural been

1. A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.

   His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge[…].

   1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte

   5 more examples

   An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

   Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees?

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC

   Ariell: / Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowslips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 17

   Bees are the moſt excellent of all Inſects vvhatſoever, and expreſſe both vvorth and vvonder in all their vvaies: […]

   1657, Samuel Purchas, “The Excellency of Bees”, in A Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. […], London: […] R. I. for Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, page 1

   He stood across in the other garden, beside a bush of pale Michaelmas daisies, watching the last bees crawl into the hive.

   1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC

2. informalproscribedAny stinging flying insect, especially a wasp.

plural bees

1. A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.

   geography bee

   1 more example

   Hey, guys. Whoa. What are you guys doing? They're setting up in the gym for the Vision Bee. I signed our team up as "Sumo and the Laser Twins."

   2014 July 24, Spencer Rothbell, “Puddle Eyes” (7:02 from the start), in Clarence, season 1, episode 14, spoken by Sumo (Tom Kenny), Cartoon Network Studios

2. A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.

   The cellar […] was dug by a bee in a single day.

   1856, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, Recollections of a Lifetime

   2 more examples

   There was but little variation in types of buildings in the pioneer period: house, church, store, barn and mill were usually much alike except in size, and a raising bee was the ordinary means of their erection.

   1973, Alan Skeoch, Tony H. Smith, Canadians and their society, page 139

   Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.

   2011 September 21, Tim Blanning, “The reinvention of the night”, in Times Literary Supplement

plural bees

1. obsoleteA ring or torque; a bracelet.

   And kyng Arthur gaf her a ryche bee of gold and soo she departed

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Caxton, Book 7, Chapter xxxv

   1 more example

   ...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees, the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...

   1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial, Penguin, published 2005, page 16

1. obsoleteObsolete spelling of be.

   held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’

   1604, Reverend Cawdrey, Table Aleph

2. obsoleteparticiplepastpast participle of be; been

   His Lady sad to see his sore constraint, / Cride out, Now now Sir knight, shew what ye bee / Add faith vnto your force, and be not faint: / Strangle her, els she sure will strangle thee.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 19, page 8

plural bees

1. The name of the Latin script letter B/b.

   "The ee-vee-ee-ar-en-oh-ee-ell-blank-bee-ell-oh-ess-ess-oh-em-blank-en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar is especially dee-ee-ell-eye-cee-eye-oh-you-ess." Our friends thanked the spelling bee for his help and then he buzzed off.

   2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170

plural bees

1. plural normallynauticalAny of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.

   Synonyms: bee block

plural Bees

1. ball gamesSomeone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
2. Alternative letter-case form of bee (“the name of the Latin script letter B/b”).

1. A diminutive of the female given name Beatrice.
2. A surname.

1. South AfricaabbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of Black Economic Empowerment.