drone

SayDROHNUS/dɹoʊn/UK/dɹəʊn/

Pluraldrones

Verbdrones, droning, droned

14 meanings of drone

Practice

1
nouncountable
An aircraft or other vehicle with no person inside, controlled from far away or by a computer.
Like a remote-control toy plane, but carrying a camera.
The photographer used a drone to film the coastline from above.
A drone hovered over the stadium during the match.
UsageYou fly a drone.
SimilarUAV
Note
2
low murmurnouncountable
A humming or deep murmuring sound, like many voices together.
Like the soft, steady sound of many people talking at once.
A low drone of voices filled the hall before the speech.
We heard the drone of the crowd from outside the gates.
UsageSay the drone of traffic or voices.
Similarmurmur, hum, buzz, rumble
3
male beenouncountable
A male bee, ant, or wasp that does not gather food but can mate with the queen.
Like a male bee whose only task is mating, not daily chores.
The drone has no stinger and cannot collect pollen.
Male bees are called drones, and they do not make honey.
Note
4
humverbintransitive
To make a low, steady humming or buzzing sound.
Like the steady sound of a washing machine running.
The engines drone as the plane climbs above the clouds.
Bees droned among the flowers all afternoon.
Similarhum, buzz, whir
Note
5
speak flatlyverbintransitive
To speak in a flat, boring voice that does not change.
Like a voice that sounds the same the whole time, with no ups or downs.
Speakers who drone tend to lose their audience.
The professor droned through the entire lecture.
UsageOften drone on: talk too long in a boring voice.
Similarramble
6
music stylenoununcountable
A style of music built from long, repeated humming or sustained sounds.
Like music made of one long, deep sound that just keeps going.
She listens to drone while she works late at night.
Drone can sound like one long note that never seems to end.
UsageSay listen to drone or drone music.
7
mindless followernounslangderogatorycountable
A person who follows a group without thinking for themselves, used as an insult.
Like a worker bee that just does what it is told, never thinking on its own.
He called anyone who disagreed with him a drone.
Think for yourself instead of being a drone who repeats whatever the group says.
UsageNeutral words are follower or conformist.
Similarsheep, conformist, automaton, robot
Oppositeindividualist, maverick, freethinker
Note

Less common meanings

8
bagpipe pipenouncountable
On a bagpipe, one of the pipes that plays a single, unchanging note.
Like a long, low note that keeps playing while the tune sounds on top.
The drone gives bagpipe music its steady background note.
He tuned the drone before the parade began.
Note
9
routine workernouncountable
A person who does dull, repeated work, often for long hours.
Like a worker who does the same boring job again and again.
He felt like a drone doing the same task every day.
The office drones filed papers from morning to night.
UsageOften office drone.
Similardrudge
Note
10
kill by missileverbcolloquialtransitive
To kill or destroy someone or something using a missile fired from an unmanned aircraft.
Like hitting a target with a missile sent from a robot plane.
The military droned the convoy before dawn.
They claim they can drone enemy fighters with great precision.
UsageDifferent from drone on, which means talk in a boring way.
Similarstrike, bomb
Note
11
nounarchaic
A lazy person who will not do any work.
by living as a drone, to be an unprofitable or unworthy member of so learned and noble a society
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of MelancholyHere, drone means a lazy person who does no work.
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
Note
12
party drugnounslangUKuncountable
A street name in the UK for mephedrone, an illegal drug that makes people feel excited and full of energy.
Police warned that drone was being sold near the clubs.
He admitted he had taken drone at the party.
UsageDoctors and courts say mephedrone.
Similarmephedrone
13
nounrare
In a type of role-play, a person who acts mindless and obedient, often wearing a latex suit and gas mask.
14
nounUganda
A van like a Toyota HiAce, especially one Ugandan security forces use to take away people who oppose the government.
A minibus van, often numberless and dubbed the 'drone', gained notoriety for kidnaps and disappearances.
2022, Albert K Awedoba, Andreas Mehler

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1, 3, 7, 9–11

This comes from an old English word 'drān' meaning a male bee. The use for a remote-controlled aircraft has an uncertain origin.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Drone descends from Old English drān, meaning a male bee. en.wiktionary.org
The origin of the aircraft meaning is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 2, 4–6, 8

This comes from a Middle English word 'drounen' meaning 'to roar or bellow'.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

The sound sense of drone comes from Middle English drounen, meaning 'to roar or bellow'. lrc.la.utexas.edu