drone
16
5.2
- noun
- /droʊn/
:
zumbido
- For a moment, there was only the continuing drone of the alarm.
- drone and ostinato
- drone patterns
So all these notes work perfectly with the drone.
- So all these notes work perfectly with the drone.
Examples
-
Children enjoy playing outdoors, but they often complain about the drone of distant traffic.
-
You get this daily monotonous drone until the weekends.
-
The constant drone of machinery in our aircraft factories is the music of victory.
-
Young and Riley were both drawn to the drone in Indian classical music.
Academic text (1998) -
"Is it London yet?" he asked as the drone of the engines slowed and deepened.
Fiction book (1991) -
But no change had really come, except that now the grinding drone of cicadas could be heard again.
Fiction book (1992) -
By the time we reached Fort Laramie, the noise was a sad drone, like bees singing in our ears.
Fiction book (1994) -
Even the birds were quiet, and Shedwyn heard only the constant drone of insects excited by their warm-blooded presence.
Fiction book (1991) -
Leonard stares into the eerie room and listens to the distant, muted drone of the furnaces.
Fiction book (1990) -
The drone of the air conditioning made it hard for me to concentrate on my work.
Synonyms
8
6.5
A low, constant sound like insects or a machine
5
2.7
A low steady sound like bees or a machine running
A pipe on a bagpipe that makes a steady background low note
A pipe on a bagpipe or organ that makes a low steady drone note
A steady low sound an instrument makes to support the main tune
Antonyms
Compounds
How Monotonous
Surface Forms
Etymology
Drone for a low, steady sound comes from an old English word drān, a male bee known for its deep 'buzz'. So the bagpipe's drone is the steady humming background, like the sound of a bee.