beehive

noun

bee·​hive ˈbē-ˌhīv 

plural beehives

1

: hive sense 1

In the spring, two young grizzly bears, just out of a winter's sleep, … knocked over a half-dozen commercial beehives and fed on the honey and larvae within.

—Jim Robbins

2

: something resembling a hive for bees: such as

a

: a scene of crowded activity

… a beehive of growling trucks, riverboats laden with supplies, helicopters and airplanes buzzing overhead …

—National Geographic

b

: a woman's hairstyle that is conical in shape

She is about sixty-five with hair white as spun sugar, piled up in a beehive hairdo that has been out of style for twenty years.

—W. P. Kinsella

beehive adjective

Examples of beehive in a Sentence

The office was a beehive of activity.

wearing her hair in a beehive

Recent Examples on the Web

In New Zealand, the satellite technology now covers IoT devices, starting with equipment to monitor beehives. —PC Magazine, 30 July 2025

In the photo, Rock captures the start of this new honey project: the transport of a heavy beehive to the mangrove forest’s buffer zone. —Amber X. Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2025

Powell said some of those upgrades, such as Italian beehives, are not part of the renovation. —Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 14 July 2025

There's no beehives and there's no roof garden terraces. —Scott Horsley, NPR, 14 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing beehive

• beehive oven

Rhymes for beehive

• alive
• archive
• arrive
• connive
• contrive
• deprive
• derive
• revive
• survive
• dive
• drive
• five

Kids Definition

beehive

1 of 2 noun

bee·​hive

ˈbē-ˌhīv

1

: hive entry 1 sense 1

2

: hive entry 1 sense 2

a beehive of activity

beehive

2 of 2 adjective

: resembling a dome-shaped beehive