honeycomb
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the wax structure made of six-sided holes that bees use to store honey and eggs.
n.a structure of hexagonal wax cells formed by honeybees to contain their larvae and store honey and pollen.
Simple“The beekeeper carefully removed a frame covered in golden honeycomb from the hive.”
In context“The intricate geometry of the honeycomb allows bees to store the maximum amount of honey using the minimum amount of wax.”
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
n.a material or object that has many small, regular holes like a bee's nest.
n.a structure or material consisting of a series of hexagonal or similar cells, often used in engineering for strength and lightness.
Simple“The airplane wing uses a honeycomb core to keep it light but very strong.”
In context“Engineers specified a metallic honeycomb panel to provide high thermal resistance while maintaining the structural integrity of the satellite's outer shell.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a light, crunchy sweet made from sugar and soda that looks like a bee's nest inside.
n.a crunchy, aerated confection made from sugar and bicarbonate of soda, characterized by a porous internal structure.
Simple“We bought a large piece of chocolate-covered honeycomb at the seaside fair.”
In context“The pastry chef crumbled homemade honeycomb over the vanilla bean ice cream to add a contrasting texture.”
Synonymshokey pokeycinder toffee - 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to spread through something in a way that makes it weak or hidden.
v.to spread through or undermine something, often used figuratively to describe secret influence or structural weakening.
Simple“Corruption began to honeycomb the government, leading to its eventual collapse.”
In context“The revolutionary movement had honeycombed the military hierarchy, placing loyalists in key positions long before the uprising began.”
Synonyms
“On the first day, worker bees filtered out 95% of the pesticide and transferred it into the honeycomb.”
The noun is derived from Middle English hony comb, 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.