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
There’s not a whole lot that can be done to harden them against bombs and drones. — David Goldman, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026 Kuwait said on Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country's north. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 3 Aug. 2026 Both countries are investing heavily in technologies such as enhanced stealth, artificial intelligence, advanced networking, and the ability to operate alongside autonomous drones. — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, the Lioness team is escorted through the trees to a bunker-base of operations as drones whiz across the sky like a plague of locusts and the ground around them erupts with mortars. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 2 Aug. 2026 The Nomad 100 serves as the prototype for a scalable family of autonomous drones, ranging in size up to the equivalent of a Black Hawk helicopter. — David Szondy august 02, New Atlas, 2 Aug. 2026 Ukrainian analysts first identified this capability after inspecting a downed Gerbera and observing mounting brackets for FPV drones. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 2 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
  • Unfortunately, night watering creates the perfect conditions for slugs and pathogens to thrive.
    — Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 23 July 2026
  • Baking soda can help prevent powdery mildew, kill weeds, repel slugs, and clean produce, but must be used sparingly.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 July 2026
Definition of slugs
Noun
  • Lines spill down the block after prayer, with laborers and millionaires alike waiting to pair it with two-riyal fava beans from the fawal, or cafeteria, beside the bakery.
    — Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
  • Part of the promise of pro-worker AI is to create new tasks, which in many cases will demand that laborers learn new skills.
    — Daron Acemoglu, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
Definition of laborers
Noun
  • 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
  • That screened out background hums and consistent noise, but could never cope with dynamic audio spikes.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of hums
Verb
  • While Ramses may continue its operations for a number of months, NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX mission—the name for the extended mission of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which sampled the asteroid Bennu—is set to swoop in after Apophis buzzes Earth.
    — Andrew Jones, Scientific American, 30 July 2026
  • Your social world buzzes with activity as Mercury and Venus harmonize in the skies.
    — USA TODAY, USA Today, 24 July 2026
Definition of buzzes
Verb
  • Critical thinking really bums them out.
    — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Then Jason and Thor shower together, each lathering the other’s back and bums up with fewer orgasms than an old Herbal Essences commercial.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2026
Definition of bums
Noun
  • The lubricating substance allows snails to stick to the ground more easily and travel more smoothly.
    — Laura Dorwart, Health, 22 July 2026
  • But SpongeBob is just as unambiguously heroic as Damon’s Odysseus is (even if our favorite burger-flipping tamer of snails requires a gift from a certain daughter of a goddess to find his courage).
    — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 21 July 2026
Definition of snails
Noun
  • City inspectors soon found site safety issues, including workers who were operating machinery without proper certification and an unpermitted supported scaffold in use, according to the Department of Buildings.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 30 July 2026
  • The talent drain is only expected to intensify as older workers and managers age out of their present roles.
    — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of workers
Noun
  • 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
  • Honey is ready to bring love, purrs and playful cuddles to her forever home.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 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 3 Aug. 2026.

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