Drone (?), n. [OE. drane a
dronebee, AS. drān; akin to OS. drān, OHG.
treno, G. drohne, Dan. drone, cf. Gr. &?; a
kind of wasp, dial. Gr. &?; drone. Prob. named fr. the droning sound.
See Drone, v. i.] 1.
(Zoöl.) The male of bees, esp. of the honeybee. It
gathers no honey. See Honeybee.
All with united force combine to drive
The lazy drones from the laborious hive.
Dryden.
2. One who lives on the labors of others; a
lazy, idle fellow; a sluggard.
By living as a drone,to be an unprofitable and
unworthy member of so noble and learned a society.
Burton.
3. That which gives out a grave or monotonous
tone or dull sound; as: (a) A drum. [Obs.]
Halliwell. (b) The part of the bagpipe
containing the two lowest tubes, which always sound the key note and
the fifth.
4. A humming or deep murmuring
sound.
The monotonous drone of the wheel.
Longfellow.
5. (Mus.) A monotonous bass, as in a
pastoral composition.
Drone (?), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Droned (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Droning.] [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G.
dröhnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a
roaring, Sw. dröna to bellow, drone, Dan.
dröne, Goth. drunjus sound, Gr. &?; dirge, &?; to
cry aloud, Skr. dhran to sound. Cf. Drone,
n.] 1. To utter or make a low,
dull, monotonous, humming or murmuring sound.
Where the beetle wheels his droning
flight.
T. Gray.
2. To love in idleness; to do nothing.
"Race of droning kings." Dryden.
