Library / English Dictionary

BUZZ

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A confusion of activity and gossip

Example:

the buzz of excitement was so great that a formal denial was issued

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("buzz" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Derivation:

buzz (be noisy with activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sound of rapid vibration

Example:

the buzz of a bumble bee

Synonyms:

bombilation; bombination; buzz

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("buzz" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

buzz (call with a buzzer)

buzz (make a buzzing sound)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Call with a buzzer

Example:

he buzzed the servant

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "buzz" is one way to...):

summon (ask to come)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

buzz (sound of rapid vibration)

buzzer (a signaling device that makes a buzzing sound)

buzzer (a push button at an outer door that gives a ringing or buzzing signal when pushed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fly low

Example:

Planes buzzed the crowds in the square

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "buzz" is one way to...):

fly; wing (travel through the air; be airborne)

Domain category:

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a buzzing sound

Example:

bees were buzzing around the hive

Synonyms:

bombilate; bombinate; buzz

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "buzz" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

buzz (sound of rapid vibration)

buzzer (a signaling device that makes a buzzing sound)

buzzer (a push button at an outer door that gives a ringing or buzzing signal when pushed)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be noisy with activity

Example:

This office is buzzing with activity

Synonyms:

buzz; hum; seethe

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "buzz" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "buzz"):

pullulate; swarm; teem (be teeming, be abuzz)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The crowds buzz in the streets

The streets buzz with crowds

Derivation:

buzz (a confusion of activity and gossip)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Now, the instant that the buzz of surprise and admiration caused by Jim’s face and figure had died away, Harrison was on his feet, gesticulating in his excitement.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Forthwith there was heard a great buzzing in the air, and a swarm of black bees came flying toward her.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

There, buzzing in the air at the tip of his nose, was a lone mosquito.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I know that everything was turning round, and the words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my ear.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The thought that has been buzzing about my brain lately is complete, and the theory proved. My homicidal maniac is of a peculiar kind.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

At the stern order the buzz ceased, and fifty pairs of blue, black, gray, and brown eyes were obediently fixed upon his awful countenance.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The homely English bee buzzed everywhere around us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A buzz and hum go up around me, as if the boys were so many bluebottles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

An electronic signaling device designed to make a buzzing sound by vibration of an armature.

(Buzzer Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Either from the consciousness, however, that his friend had recovered, or from other consciousness, he went no farther; and Anne who, in spite of the agitated voice in which the latter part had been uttered, and in spite of all the various noises of the room, the almost ceaseless slam of the door, and ceaseless buzz of persons walking through, had distinguished every word, was struck, gratified, confused, and beginning to breathe very quick, and feel an hundred things in a moment.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)