hive

UK: /ˈhaɪv/ US: /haɪv/ ,(hīv)

Inflections of 'hive' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

hives

v 3rd person singular

hiving

v pres p

hived

v past

hived

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

hive /haɪv/   n., v., hived, hiv•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Insects, Animal Husbandry a shelter for housing a colony of honeybees;
   beehive.
2. Animal Husbandry a colony of bees.
3. a place swarming with busy occupants:
   a hive of activity.

v. [no object]

4. British Terms hive off, Chiefly Brit. to separate from a group:
   The bombers hived off and went after their individual targets.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

hive  (hīv), n., v., hived, hiv•ing. 
n. 

1. Insects, Animal Husbandry a shelter constructed for housing a colony of honeybees;
   beehive.
2. Animal Husbandry the colony of bees inhabiting a hive.
3. something resembling a beehive in structure or use.
4. a place swarming with busy occupants:
   a hive of industry.
5. a swarming or teeming multitude.

v.t. 

6. Animal Husbandry to gather into or cause to enter a hive.
7. Animal Husbandry to shelter as in a hive.
8. to store up in a hive.
9. to store or lay away for future use or enjoyment.

v.i. 

10. Animal Husbandry (of bees) to enter a hive.
11. to live together in or as in a hive.
12. British Terms hive off, to become transferred from the main body of a commercial or industrial enterprise through the agency of new ownership.

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English hȳf; akin to Old Norse hūfr ship's hull, Latin cūpa vat

hive′less, adj. 
hive′like′, adj. 
hiv′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 4. hub, center.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hive / haɪv/ noun

1. a structure in which social bees live and rear their young
2. a colony of social bees
3. a place showing signs of great industry (esp in the phrase a hive of activity)
4. a teeming crowd; multitude

verb

1. to cause (bees) to collect or (of bees) to collect inside a hive
2. to live or cause to live in or as if in a hive
3. (transitive) (of bees) to store (honey, pollen, etc) in the hive

Etymology: Old English hӯf; related to Westphalian hüwe, Old Norse hūfr ship's hull, Latin cūpa barrel, Greek kupē, Sanskrit kūpa cave