Drone
Drone , noun
[Old English drane a dronebee, Anglo-Saxon drān; akin to Old Saxon drān, Old High German treno, German drohne, Danish drone, compare Greek {not transcribed} a kind of wasp, dial. Greek {not transcribed} drone. Probably named from the droning sound. See Drone, v. i.]
1.
(Zoology) 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.
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.
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.
5.
(Music) A monotonous bass, as in a pastoral composition.
Drone (drōn) , intransitive verb
[Compare (for sense 1) Dutch dreunen, German drohnen, Icelandic drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Swedish drona to bellow, drone, Danish drone, Gothic drunjus sound, Greek {not transcribed} dirge, {not transcribed} to cry aloud, Sanskrit dhran to sound. Compare Drone, n.]
1.
To utter or make a low, dull, monotonous, humming or murmuring sound.
Where the beetle wheels his droning flight.
2.
To love in idleness; to do nothing.
Race of droning kings.