beehive

noun, verb — 12 senses

beehive

nounalso spelled Beehive

/ˈbiːhaɪv/

Etymology From Middle English beehyve, equivalent to bee + hive.

9 senses
  1. 1Such a home prepared by the bees themselves, in which…
  2. 2A man-made structure in which honey bees are kept so…
  3. 3Any place full of activity, or in which people are very busy.
  4. 4A women's hairstyle, popular in the 1960s, in which long…
  5. 5A particular style of hat.
  6. 6A type of anti-personnel ammunition round containing…
  7. 7Alternative form of Beehive.
  8. 8In Conway's Game of Life, a particular still life…
  9. 9A diagram showing where balls have passed the batter…

› A sheltered place where bees, usually honey…

1

Such a home prepared by the bees themselves, in which some species of honey bees live and raise their young.

2

A man-made structure in which honey bees are kept so that humans can harvest their honey.

  • The key-hole was still their port of egress and regress, and it resembled the aperture of a bee-hive, on a sunny day in June.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 306:
3

Figuratively Any place full of activity, or in which people are very busy.

4

A women's hairstyle, popular in the 1960s, in which long hair is styled into a hive-shaped form on top of the head and usually held in place with lacquer.

5

A particular style of hat.

  • A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…].1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
6

A type of anti-personnel ammunition round containing flechettes, and characterised by the buzzing sound made as they fly through the air.

  • By the time it was over, Stone had been blown thirty feet through the air by a beehive round as he was running across a field, knocked out by the concussion of the blast.2004, Martin Torgoff, “Next Stop is Vietnam”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 179:
7

New Zealand, Alternative, Nonstandard Alternative form of Beehive.

  • Brian Small said that the Minister could not 'hide in the beehive any longer'2004, Nicholas Tarling, International Students in New Zealand, →ISBN, page 114:
  • In New Zealand, this approach is taken one step forward in that Ministers physically sit together up in the beehive, as their building is known, rather than being based in the Departments.2010, David Halpern, The Hidden Wealth of Nations, →ISBN, page 216:
1 more example
  • As with other major buildings the beehive demonstrated the need for a standardized building drawing practice which could be applied — and understood1977, New Zealand Libraries - Volumes 40-42, →ISBN, page 30:
8

Cellular automata, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences In Conway's Game of Life, a particular still life pattern with a rounded appearance.

  • By the way, what happens to a beehive which is under attack by one or two gliders such as pictured:1989 December 22, Norbert Roestel, “CA-LETTER”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
  • Alternatively, in many cases the debris can be suppressed by perturbing the debris with a passing spaceship before it stabilizes into the beehive or loaf.1992 October 22, David Bell, “Spaceships in Conway's Life (Part 6a)”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
1 more example
  • Unfortunately, a beehive (a common six cell still life) was also created close to the block, and its position made it impossible to eliminate with conventional methods using still lifes (anything placed to destroy it would be damaged by earlier activity).1996 November 16, Paul Callahan, “Still-life glider reflector found”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
9

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A diagram showing where balls have passed the batter, used in analysis.

Derived terms
beehive burner, beehive charcoal, beehive coal, beehive of activity, beehive quern, beehiver, beehive shelf, beehive tomb, beehiving, Beyhive
Related terms
bee, hive

beehive

verb

Etymology From Middle English beehyve, equivalent to bee + hive.

1

Rare To fill (a place) with busy activity.

  • Quite naturally, if there are more ministers swarming the cabinet rooms and conference halls, then there will be a spate of civil servants beehiving the secretariat.1958, T. S. Bawa, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nehru's India: An Analytical Study, page 25:
  • The patrons beehiving the place whooped and shouted.1989, Craig Foley, Blood Knot, page 59:
1 more example
  • This is not the first time that I learnt of a neighbor's death after a lapse of a few weeks. You just don't see people beehiving a home, like in India […]2012, Satish C. Bhatnagar, Epsilons and Deltas of Life: Everyday Stories, volume 1, page 16:
2

Rare To style the hair in a hive-shaped or bouffant form.

Related terms
apiary, beekeeper, insect hotel

Beehive

noun

Etymology From beehive.

1

Mormonism A participant aged either twelve or thirteen years old in the Young Women organization of the LDS Church.

Related terms
Laurel, Mia Maid

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for beehive and Beehive.