beehive

[bee-hahyv] /ˈbiˌhaɪv/

noun

a habitation or dwelling-place constructed for bees, usually either dome-shaped or box-shaped.

a natural habitation of bees, as a hollowed-out tree.

a crowded, busy place.

something resembling an artificial beehive in appearance, as a hut or hairdo.

Also called beehive oven. an oven for converting coal into coke, characterized by its dome-shaped roof.

Origin

1325-75; Middle English; see bee¹, hive

British Dictionary definitions for beehive

beehive

/ˈbiːˌhaɪv/

noun

a man-made receptacle used to house a swarm of bees

a dome-shaped hair style in which the hair is piled high on the head

a place where busy people are assembled

Beehive

/ˈbiːˌhaɪv/

noun (informal) the Beehive

the dome-shaped building that houses sections of Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand

the New Zealand government

Word Origin and History for beehive

early 14c., from bee + hive (n.). As the name of a hairstyle, attested from 1960 (the style itself said to be popular from 1958). As the name of a star cluster in the constellation Cancer, from 1840 (see Praesepe).

Encyclopedia Article for beehive

Beehive

((catalog numbers NGC 2632 and M 44), open, or galactic, cluster of several hundred stars in the zodiacal constellation Cancer and located 590 light-years from Earth. Visible to the unaided eye as a small patch of bright haze, it was first distinguished as a group of stars by Galileo. It was included by Hipparchus in the earliest known star catalog, c. 129 BC.

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