buzz
verbEtymology From Middle English *bussen (suggested by Middle English bussyng (“buzzing”)), of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Scots bizz (“to buzz”). Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).
12 senses
- 1To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound…
- 2To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
- 3Of a group of people, to talk about some interesting…
- 4To fly while making such a sound.
- 5To show a high level of activity and haste, energization…
- 6To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an undertone…
- 7To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
- 8To fly at high speed and at a very low altitude over (an…
- 9To cut (the hair) in a close-cropped military style, or buzzcut.
- 10To throw swiftly.
- 11To drink to the bottom.
- 12To communicate with (a person) by means of a buzzer.
To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings.
- Ah! the singing, fatal arrow, / Like a wasp it buzzed, and stung him [a roebuck]!1855 November 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Childhood”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 47:
- So that now the universe has escaped from the pin which was pushed through it, like an impaled fly vainly buzzing: now that the multiple universe flies its own complicated course quite free, and hasn't got any hub, we can hope also to escape.1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Holy Family”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 14:
Broadly To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
- However these disturbers of our peace / Buzz in the people's ears.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
Of a group of people, to talk about some interesting topic excitedly.
- But I tell you this has set all London buzzing. The old man is where he likes to be, with a pin-point limelight right on his hairy old head.1928 February 25 – March 3, Arthur Conan Doyle, “When the World Screamed”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 570:
Of an insect To fly while making such a sound.
- A fly was buzzing past me.
- The flies, lethargic with the autumn, were beginning to buzz into the room.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
Colloquial To show a high level of activity and haste, energization or excitement, to be busy as a bee in one’s actions but perhaps mentally charged.
To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly.
- I will buzz abroad such prophecies / That Edward shall be fearful of his life.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:
To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Also, Figuratively To fly at high speed and at a very low altitude over (an area), as to make a surprise pass.
- […] an asteroid a mere 15-20 metres across exploded with the force of a medium-sized atom bomb over Chelyabinsk, in Russia, and another, much larger one buzzed Earth a few hours later.2013, The Economist, Stopping asteroid strikes: Defenders of the Earth:
To cut (the hair) in a close-cropped military style, or buzzcut.
- Deacon said, “You used to beg me to let you buzz your hair when you were little.” “And then I grew up and realized how awful you looked when you buzzed yours.”2012, Ellen Hartman, Out of Bounds, page 130:
To throw swiftly.
- I have mentioned her deft hand with a stone — well, as soon as our backs were turned she buzzed a stone to clip Joe's ear.2013, Felix Gilman, The Rise of Ransom City:
Archaic To drink to the bottom.
- He buzzed the bottle with such a hearty good will as settled the fate of another, which Soapey rang for as a matter of course. There was but the rejected one, which however Spigot put into a different decanter and brought in […]1849, The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register:
To communicate with (a person) by means of a buzzer.
- Then one day my secretary buzzed me and said Frank Sinatra was on the phone. When I picked up the phone it was the Chief who played dumb and would not admit that he said he was Frank Sinatra.2012, Steven Joseph Sinopoli, The Seventh House, page 66:
- Derived terms
40 terms
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