hive

noun \ ˈhīv \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: hive in a Sentence

Definition of hive

1 a : a container for housing honeybees

b : the usually aboveground nest of bees

2 : a colony of bees

3 : a place swarming with activity

—

hiveless

play \ˈhīv-ləs\ adjective

See hive defined for English-language learners

See hive defined for kids

Examples of hive in a Sentence

The house was a hive of activity as we prepared for the party.

Recent Examples of hive from the Web

Out of the hive of tiny Arianas walks a larger Ariana, who turns to the camera, then looks down at her stomach, which expands and explodes into a flurry of flowers.

— gabe bergado, Teen Vogue, "Ariana Grande Sparks Pregnancy Rumors with "God Is a Woman" Music Video," 13 July 2018
Bees closer to urban areas and irrigation have fared better than hives deeper in the mountains.

— josh lurie, Los Angeles Magazine, "Honey Made by Bees in Different Parts of L.A. All Tastes Wonderfully Different," 25 June 2018
Created by Dustin Betz and Mike Zaengle, the BEEcosystem observation hive was designed in response to the need for more bees.

— danielle tullo, House Beautiful, "People Are Hanging Beehives on Their Walls Like Picture Frames," 24 May 2018
Peterson-Roest said that by midsummer the rooftop hives will grow to about 60,000 bees each.

— hasan dudar, Detroit Free Press, "Downtown Detroit's newest sweet spot: Beehives installed on rooftop," 26 Apr. 2018
The apiary has been managed by a Westmont resident, and one of the four hives was painted by Clarendon Hills Montessori School students, Underleider said.

— chuck fieldman, chicagotribune.com, "Four beehives produced 140 pounds of honey at new gardens and apiary," 18 Apr. 2018
Two of the apiary’s three hives have died this winter.

— crocker stephenson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Better Angels: Consider the humble honeybee," 2 Jan. 2018
As a matter of fact, Gordon Gekko is a veritable Voltaire in comparison to Bruce Jenner, the freakishly synthetic patriarch of the Kardashian hive.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "The Kardashians Killed the Hamptons," 3 July 2014
Her entire body looked like it was covered in hives, with the skin especially irritated on the insides of her elbows, the backs of her knees, and her baby toes.

— alexandra macon, Vogue, "32 Million Americans Suffer From This Skin Condition—Is Your Baby One of Them?," 9 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hive

Middle English, from Old English hȳf; perhaps akin to Old Norse hūfr ship's hull, Latin cūpa tub, Sanskrit kūpa cave

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

hive

verb

Definition of hive

hived; hiving

intransitive verb

1 of bees : to enter and take possession of a hive

2 : to reside in close association

transitive verb

1 : to collect into a hive

2 : to store up in or as if in a hive

See hive defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of hive from the Web

The Whole Foods hives join a small but growing effort trying to help in urban Boise, such as the apiary on the BSU campus and the hives at the Boise Urban Garden School.

— kevin davenport, idahostatesman, "Why are these 250,000 bees hanging out on this sweet Downtown Boise rooftop?," 11 July 2018
Urban donates the honey from the Let's Grown Akron hives to sell at the farmers market to support the organization and provide a healthy sugar alternative.

— megan becka, cleveland.com, "Urban Honey Bee thrives thanks to Akron business partnerships," 2 Apr. 2018
Instead what is most often advocated is hiving off as much political life as possible from the influence of ignorant voters and giving it to experts instead.

— sheri berman, Washington Post, "Some argue that the West should limit democracy to save liberalism. Here’s why they’re wrong.," 18 July 2017
Southern drug store chain Fred’s, which had stood to gain national scale by buying the stores that Walgreens was hiving off to satisfy possible antitrust concerns, also fell 22%.

— alan murray, Fortune, "CEO Daily: Friday, 30th June," 30 June 2017
Starboard Value LP took a stake and called on Macy’s to hive off its valuable real estate, which the activist investor says is worth more than $20 billion.

— dow jones news service, Twin Cities, "Saks owner Hudson’s Bay makes takeover approach to Macy’s," 3 Feb. 2017