drones 1 of 3

noun (1)

plural of drone
1
as in slugs
a lazy person those drones just lie around while we do all the work

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2
as in laborers
a person who does very hard or dull work after lunch my fellow drones and I shuffle back to our cubicles

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drones

2 of 3

noun (2)

plural of drone
as in hums
a monotonous sound like that of an insect in motion heard the drone of an airplane overhead

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drones

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of drone
1
as in buzzes
to fly, turn, or move rapidly with a fluttering or vibratory sound the sound of droning bees all around us

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2
as in lounges
to spend time doing nothing instead of getting a job, he preferred to drone and live off his parents

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of drones
Noun
Between Thursday and Sunday, Russia fired almost 1,500 drones at Ukraine, and around 800 of them were jet-powered, Zelensky said. — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Russia overnight shot down 239 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Monday. — ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026 The Rainmaker drones seeded in a particular pattern in the clouds, and the resulting snowfall was easy to spot on radar as theirs. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026 The ministry plans to use attack drones in coordination with long-range missiles for more cost-effective counterstrikes. — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026 The Jordanian military did not comment on whether other drones or missiles had penetrated its defenses and reached the air bases. — Jane Arraf, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026 An Army unit based in Europe was building its own drones before LaNeve directed it to end its efforts and return to being a traditional infantry battalion, officials said in August. — Ben Finley, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026 In principle, China could eventually operate groups where a conventional carrier provides fighters while ships like Sichuan provide drones, helicopters, troops, and landing craft. — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026 Ukraine must now adapt its defenses against this high volume of FPV drones. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drones
  1. slugs
  2. laborers
  3. hums
  4. buzzes
  5. bums
  6. snails
  7. workers
  8. purrs
Noun
  • With the light load of powder that was behind them, these slugs couldn’t possibly have killed the tigress unless an extremely lucky shot had put them into a vital area at very close range.
    — Leslie E. Tassell, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Remember to bury the container deep enough to let the slugs in and out.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of slugs
Noun
  • Activists suspect that Flock’s data has been used to plan immigration raids, which frequently target hardware store parking lots where migrant day-laborers often wait for work.
    — Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The White miners drove hundreds of other Chinese laborers out of the town.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of laborers
Noun
  • The bread machine works on a timer and hums along at its regular pace.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2026
  • The seventh-floor lobby hums with Adorn Bar and Lounge, coworking tables, and live music Thursday through Sunday.
    — Rima Suqi, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026
Definition of hums
Verb
  • Stand-Up Paddleboarding at Lakeside Marina Jessica Verne The alarm buzzes early on our second full day in South Lake Tahoe.
    — Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The kitchen buzzes as volunteers carry in trays of Creole dishes and barbecue while one of the sisters stirs a large cooler of lemon margaritas.
    — Windsor Johnston, NPR, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of buzzes
Verb
  • The joy Lisa has with her RHUGT cast compared with the dread her RHOSLC cast seems to bring her really bums me out — especially because of how much of this trip is championing the sisterhood of Housewives.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Critical thinking really bums them out.
    — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of bums
Noun
  • Zebra sharks tend to rest on reef floors, regulating bottom-dwelling prey such as snails, clams, crabs, shrimp and small fish, an important part of maintaining thriving ecosystems.
    — Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • That includes September’s Aloha Festivals celebrating Hawaiian traditions and the annual Kāhuli Festival at the Bishop Museum in October, a unique family-friendly event spotlighting the vital role of Hawaiian land snails in preserving biodiversity.
    — Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of snails
Noun
  • Their crabs are steamed, frozen and packed into boxes to be shipped to Sri Lanka, where workers remove the meat by hand.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The payrolls processing firm said firms added 38,000 workers, fewer than the upwardly revised 46,000 in July and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 47,000.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of workers
Noun
  • Kimie Smothermon begins each day greeted by the squeals, chirps and purrs of nearly 400 guinea pigs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Wafting odors of 100-octane gasoline and rumbling purrs of V8 engines punched through the overcast morning at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday as the Velocity Invitational car meet entered its second day.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 31 May 2026
Definition of purrs

Browse Nearby Words

droners
drones
droning
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Cite this Entry

“Drones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drones. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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