Definition of bee

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bee¹    (b) KEY 

NOUN:

1. 1. Any of several winged, hairy-bodied, usually stinging insects of the superfamily Apoidea in the order Hymenoptera, including both solitary and social species and characterized by sucking and chewing mouthparts for gathering nectar and pollen.
   2. A bumblebee.
   3. A honeybee.
2. A social gathering where people combine work, competition, and amusement: a quilting bee.

IDIOM:
a bee in (one's) bonnet

1. An impulsive, often eccentric turn of mind; a notion.
2. An obsession.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English bo; see bhei- in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, perhaps alteration of dialectal bean, voluntary help given to a farmer by his neighbors from Middle English bene, extra service by a tenant to his lord, from Old English bn, prayer; see bh-² in Indo-European roots