honeycomb means A substance made by bees (clade Anthophila) primarily from beeswax which has hexagonal cells to hold their larvae, and for storing pollen and honey to feed the larvae and themselves when other food is scarce; it is also eaten by humans as part of comb-honey; (countable) a single sheet made up of two layers of this substance.
honeycomb is pronounced /ˈhʌnikəʊm/.
Why “honeycomb” is a great word
A structure of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees to store honey and pollen and rear their young. From Middle English honycomb, from Old English huniġcamb, from huniġ ("honey") + camb ("comb"), the term 'comb' here refers to the resemblance of the parallel wax plates to the teeth of a comb. Unlike "hive" (the colony's enclosure) or "wax" (the secreted material), honeycomb is the exquisite manufactured architecture within. It is geometry pressed from a bee’s body, a crystallization of industry, a lattice of gold holding both sweetness and generation—the natural world’s most eloquent argument against the idea of waste.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English honycomb, from Old English huniġcamb, from huniġ (“honey”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kn̥h₂ónks (“honey”)) + camb (“comb”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“peg; tooth; row of teeth”)). The English word is analysable as honey + comb. The Oxford English Dictionary posits that the arrangement of several plates of wax “hanging parallel to each other from the roof of the hive suggests a comb with its teeth”. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare Saterland Frisian Hunichmoarte (“honeycomb”), West Frisian huningskiif (“honeycomb”), Dutch honingraat (“honeycomb”), German Honigwabe (“honeycomb”).
noun
- A substance made by bees (clade Anthophila) primarily from beeswax which has hexagonal cells to hold their larvae, and for storing pollen and honey to feed the larvae and themselves when other food is scarce; it is also eaten by humans as part of comb-honey; (countable) a single sheet made up of two layers of this substance.“Pleaſant words are [as] an honycombe, ſweete to the ſoule, and health to the bones.”
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.“The wood porch was a honeycomb of termite tunnels before we replaced it.”
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.; A space-filling packing of polytopes in three- or higher-dimensional space.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.; The texture of the surface of a solar cell, intended to increase its surface area and capture more sunlight.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.; A defect in a material (especially metal) where small holes are present; specifically (construction), a defect in concrete consisting of numerous voids resulting from the failure of mortar to effectively fill the spaces among coarse aggregate particles.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.; Material manufactured with small hollow cells, sometimes sandwiched between two flat sheets, which is used to make light, stiff structural components.
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.“[F]or he [Jesus Christ] vvas the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and from him being crucified for our ſinnes, and ſlaine for our redemption, vve receive our honey and our honey-combe, that is to ſay, peace vvith God the Father.”
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.; Used as a term of endearment: honey, sweetheart.“Adievv; / My honey-combe hovv ſvveet thou art, […]”
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.; A crumbly confection usually made by boiling together golden syrup, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, and water.“honeycomb toffee”
verb
- To riddle (something) with small holes, especially in a pattern resembling a honeycomb (noun sense 1); also, to cause (something) to become hollow or weakened in this way.“The ordinary tourist who visits the Boulak museum and the Necropolis of Sakkara, and then runs up to the First or the Second Cataract, is apt to think that the subject must be wellnigh exhausted; and is scarcely conscious of the fact that the banks of the Nile from Cairo to Thebes, between which he glides so rapidly in a Cook's steamer, or, more tranquilly, journeys in a dahabeeya, are strewn with”
- To bore cavities or tunnels inside (something).“Termites will honeycomb a porch made of untreated pine.”
- To decorate (something) with a honeycomb pattern.
- To make way deeply into (something) so as to weaken it; to undermine.
- To ornament (a ceiling) with honeycomb work (see noun sense 2.4).
- To become riddled with small holes, especially in a pattern resembling a honeycomb; also, to become hollow or weakened in this way.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- beebread 86% match — Bee pollen with added honey and bee secretions, made and stored in brood cells by forager bees, and used as food for worker bees and larvae. vs honeycomb →
- propolis 82% match — An aromatic glue-like substance produced by honeybees from tree resin, waxes, and their own secretions, used in the construction of their hives. vs honeycomb →
- cocoon 78% match — The silky case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, protecting the pupa within. vs honeycomb →
- swarm 77% match — A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony. vs honeycomb →
- stratum 77% match — One of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another. vs honeycomb →
- beeswing 77% match — A filmy, translucent crust found in port and other old wines which have been bottled-aged for a long time. vs honeycomb →
- vindemiation 77% match — The gathering of grapes or honeycomb. vs honeycomb →
- enhoney 77% match — To sweeten (figuratively); to entice, allure. vs honeycomb →