bee Definition

bee¹
noun bees

1. Any of numerous four-winged insects, the female of which almost always bears a sting, and some species of which live in colonies and are often kept for their honey, eg the bumble bee and honey bee.
2. A busy industrious person.

Form: busy bee (usually)

Idiom: a bee in one's bonnet

An idea, especially a rather strange one, which has become an obsession.

Idiom: the bee's knees

(rit)
colloq
A person or thing considered to be extremely special or good, etc.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon beo.

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bee²
noun

(N Amer, especially US)
bees
1. A meeting of friends or neighbours to work on a particular task together (eg a quilting bee) or in competition (eg a spelling-bee).

Etymology: 18c: possibly from a dialect word been meaning ‘help from neighbours', from Anglo-Saxon ben a prayer or boon; or from bee¹, alluding to the co-operative industrious behaviour of the bee.