drone

 
Pronunciation: /drəʊn/

verb

[no object]
  • make a continuous low humming sound: in the far distance a machine droned
  • speak tediously in a dull monotonous tone: he reached for another beer while Jim droned on
  • [with adverbial of direction] move with a continuous humming sound: traffic droned up and down the street

noun

  • 1a continuous low humming sound: he nodded off to the drone of the car engine
  • informal a monotonous speech: only twenty minutes of the hour-long drone had passed
  • 2a continuous musical note of low pitch: the drone rose by a third to A
  • a musical instrument, or part of one, sounding a continuous note of low pitch, in particular (also drone pipe) a pipe in a bagpipe or (also drone string) a string in an instrument such as a hurdy-gurdy or a sitar.
  • 3a male bee in a colony of social bees, which does no work but can fertilize a queen.
  • a person who does no useful work and lives off others: the University takes all the profit and redistributes it to drones like him
  • 4a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft or missile.

Origin:

Old English drān, drǣn 'male bee', from a West Germanic verb meaning 'resound, boom'; related to Dutch dreunen 'to drone', German dröhnen 'to roar', and Swedish dröna 'to drowse'