droning

From the verb drone: (⇒ conjugate)

droning is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

drone¹ /droʊn/   n. [countable]

1. Insects the male of the honeybee and other bees.
2. a craft operated by remote control:
   They sent the drone over enemy territory.
3. a person who lives on the work of others;
   a loafer.
4. a boring, uninteresting person.

drone² /droʊn/   v., droned, dron•ing, n. 
v. [no object]

1. to make a continued, low, monotonous sound:
   We listened to the plane engine drone on until we fell asleep.
2. to speak in or proceed in a dull, monotonous manner:
   [~ (+ on)] The meeting droned on for hours.

n. [countable]

3. Music and Dance a musical instrument or one of its parts producing a continuous low tone, esp. a bagpipe.
4. a monotonous low tone:
   the steady drone of the airplane.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

drone¹  (drōn), n. 

1. Insects the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey. See illus. under bee. 
2. a remote control mechanism, as a radio-controlled airplane or boat.
3. a person who lives on the labor of others;
   parasitic loafer.
4. a drudge.

• bef. 1000; 1945–50 for def. 2; Middle English drone, drane, Old English dran, dron; akin to Old High German treno, German Drohne

dron′ish, adj. 

drone²  (drōn), v., droned, dron•ing, n. 
v.i. 

1. to make a dull, continued, low, monotonous sound;
   hum;
   buzz.
2. to speak in a monotonous tone.
3. to proceed in a dull, monotonous manner (usually fol. by on):
   The meeting droned on for hours.

v.t. 

4. to say in a dull, monotonous tone.

n. 

5. Music and Dance
   • a continuous low tone produced by the bass pipes or bass strings of musical instruments.
   • the pipes (esp. of the bagpipe) or strings producing this tone.
   • a bagpipe equipped with such pipes.
6. a monotonous low tone;
   humming or buzzing sound.
7. a person who speaks in a monotonous tone.

• see drone¹ and compare Middle English droun to roar, Icelandic drynja to bellow, Gothic drunjus noise 1490–1500

dron′er, n. 
dron′ing•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

drone / drəʊn/ noun

1. a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
2. a person who lives off the work of others
3. a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft

Etymology: Old English drān; related to Old High German treno drone, Gothic drunjus noise, Greek tenthrēnē wasp; see drone²

ˈdronish adjective

drone / drəʊn/ verb

(intransitive) to make a monotonous low dull sound; buzz or hum

when intr, often followed by on: to utter (words) in a monotonous tone, esp to talk without stopping

noun

1. a monotonous low dull sound
2. a sustained bass note or chord of unvarying pitch accompanying a melody
3. (as modifier): a drone bass
4. one of the single-reed pipes in a set of bagpipes, used for accompanying the melody played on the chanter
5. a person who speaks in a low monotonous tone

Etymology: 16th Century: related to drone¹ and Middle Dutch drōnen, German dröhnen

ˈdroning adjective