Drone \Drone\ (dr[=o]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Droned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Droning}.] [Cf. (for sense 1) D. dreunen, G. dr["o]hnen, Icel. drynja to roar, drynr a roaring, Sw. dr["o]na to bellow, drone, Dan. dr["o]ne, 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.
Drone \Drone\, n. [OE. drane a dronebee, AS. dr[=a]n; akin to OS. dr[=a]n, 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. (Zo["o]l.) 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.
Now everything hummed with that modern drone of smooth-running machinery, the bass notes of this civilization.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - As hammers and saws drone in the background, George Varga spins his vision of how General Electric Co. will increase its stake in the European lightbulb business while benefiting from the newly opened markets of the East.
In South Florida, money can buy the weaponry of your choice, whether it's anti-aircraft missiles, plastic explosives or drone bombers, authorities say.
The drone of helicopter rotors was mixed with the whine of sirens, the sound of shattering glass and the roar of the flames a dozen stories overhead.
Iraq said its gunners downed two Iranian drone planes, confirming for the first time that Tehran is using pilotless reconnaissance aircraft.
The guitar rock mixes the jangle and the drone.
McDonnell Douglas Corp. won $105.9 million in contracts for Navy drone aircraft and Harpoon missile improvements, and Air Force KC-10 aircraft support.
Today, there's also the steady drone of the TV in the Shiner living room, a rare concession to chicken pox by a mother faced with entertaining two house-bound kids, a visitor, and a bored German shepherd.
Moore himself is an unnecessary American import; the British are quite capable of providing pseudo-profound whimsy (especially on radio where Ray Gosling's lugubrious drone or John Walters' witless bellow trigger a Pavlovian lunge to the off-switch).
The Pentagon said it had no evidence of the confrontation Iran recently reported that home-built drones have been successfully tested and that its war factories now were working on drone fighter planes.
It's time to raise fundamental questions." He speaks quickly, a rush of words barely audible over the drone of a copier, the lone concession to electronics in the otherwise resolutely low-tech office of the Foundation on Economic Trends.
Now and then a virgin drops by looking for a stray drone to join her in a mating-flight. Drone Congregation Areas have defied scientific investigation.
Even worse, these men choose to noodle and drone for 60 minutes, making this record a real endurance test.
The draft report said the Army hasn't yet developed an appropriate forward-looking infrared sensor to help the unmanned drone gather battlefield intelligence in bad weather or at night.
The drone of warplane engines also was heard over Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
Its pretty setting - old army ambulances and rusty Rolls Royces stand between the trees surrounding the house - is ruined by the drone of the M20 motorway which runs in front of the house.
Don L. Kaufman spoke, the steady drone of planes brought more soldiers and hardware to the Saudi desert.
As I listened to Mr Lamont drone on with bloodless implacability in the Commons yesterday I had a dream of my own.
Here his acting is muted, his voice rarely rising above a drone. Whatever magic Yefremov has worked on the play's atmosphere has not filtered down to his star.