bee
/biː/noun
1
- （亦作honeybee 或hive bee）a stinging winged insect which collects nectar and pollen, produces wax and honey, and lives in large communities. It was domesticated for its honey around the end of the Neolithic period, and is typically kept in hives.蜜蜂。
1.1
- Four species in the genus Apis, family Apidae, in particular the widespread A. mellifera.蜜蜂属中4种, 蜜蜂科, 尤指分布广泛的西方蜂。
2
- an insect of a large group to which the honeybee belongs, including many solitary as well as social kinds蜂。
2.1
- Superfamily Apoidea, order Hymenoptera: several families, often now placed in the single family Apidae.蜜蜂总科, 膜翅目：数科, 现常统归蜜蜂科。
3
- with modifier a meeting for communal work or amusement集体劳动; 娱乐聚会：
a sewing bee.
集体缝纫劳动。
短语
the bee's knees
- informal an outstandingly good person or thing〈非正式〉极好的人（或物）。
- ORIGIN: first used to denote something small and insignificant, transferred to the opposite sense in US slang.
have a bee in one's bonnet
- informal be preoccupied or obsessed with something〈非正式〉入迷, 老是想着某事。
词源
Old English bēo, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bij and German dialect Beie.