honeycomb
noun
- tiling of 3-or-more dimensional euclidian or hyperbolic space
- A structure of hexagonal cells made by bees primarily of wax, to hold their larvae and for storing the honey to feed the larvae and to feed themselves during winter
verb
- make full of cavities
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhʌnikəʊm/ / /ˈhʌniˌkoʊm/
noun
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English honycomb, 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. Compare Saterland Frisian Hunichmoarte (“honeycomb”), West Frisian huningskiif (“honeycomb”), Dutch honingraat (“honeycomb”), German Honigwabe (“honeycomb”).
- A substance made by bees (clade Anthophila) primarily from beeswax which has hexagonal cells to hold their larvae, and for storing pollen and honey to feed the larvae and themselves when other food is scarce; it is also eaten by humans as part of comb-honey; (countable) a single sheet made up of two layers of this substance.
“Pleaſant words are [as] an honycombe, ſweete to the ſoule, and health to the bones.”
“So vvee read that God manifeſted by the Lots vvhich Saul cauſed to be dravvn [1 Sam[uel] 14.43.] the fault that Jonathan had committed, in eating a honey-comb, contrary to the oath taken by the people.”
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
“The wood porch was a honeycomb of termite tunnels before we replaced it.”
“[There is in Thomas Jefferson] evidence of a mind, soured, yet seeking for popularity, and eaten to a honeycomb with ambition, yet weak, confused, uninformed, and ignorant.”
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
“A rudimentall reſemblance hereof there is in the cruciated and rugged folds of the Reticulum, or Net-like Ventricle of ruminating horned animals, vvhich is the ſecond in order, and culinarily called the Honey-comb.”
“Of the four ſtomachs vvith vvhich ruminant animals are furniſhed, the firſt is called the paunch, vvhich receives the food after it has been ſlightly chevved; the ſecond is called the honeycomb, and is properly nothing more than a continuation of the former; […]”
- Something resembling honeycomb (noun sense 1) in having numerous cells or small holes.
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.
“[F]or he [Jesus Christ] vvas the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and from him being crucified for our ſinnes, and ſlaine for our redemption, vve receive our honey and our honey-combe, that is to ſay, peace vvith God the Father.”
“Yes, Frank, what I have is my own, if labour in getting, and care in augmenting, can make a right of property; and no drone shall feed on my honeycomb.”
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.
“Adievv; / My honey-combe hovv ſvveet thou art, […]”
“Svveet Hony-Comb, don't be ſo VVaſpiſh: […]”
- Something resembling honeycomb in sweetness; hence, something desirable or pleasant.
“honeycomb toffee”
verb
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English honycomb, 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. Compare Saterland Frisian Hunichmoarte (“honeycomb”), West Frisian huningskiif (“honeycomb”), Dutch honingraat (“honeycomb”), German Honigwabe (“honeycomb”).
- To riddle (something) with small holes, especially in a pattern resembling a honeycomb (noun sense 1); also, to cause (something) to become hollow or weakened in this way.
“The ordinary tourist who visits the Boulak museum and the Necropolis of Sakkara, and then runs up to the First or the Second Cataract, is apt to think that the subject must be wellnigh exhausted; and is scarcely conscious of the fact that the banks of the Nile from Cairo to Thebes, between which he glides so rapidly in a Cook's steamer, or, more tranquilly, journeys in a dahabeeya, are strewn with the mounds of ancient cities, especially on the eastern shore, and that its cliffs are honeycombed with tombs.”
- To bore cavities or tunnels inside (something).
“Termites will honeycomb a porch made of untreated pine.”
“[M]any of the pillars of the temple of Serapis at Puteoli vvere penetrated by theſe animals. […] [T]he pholas muſt have pierced into them ſince they vvere erected; for no vvorkmen vvould have laboured a pillar into form, if it had been honey-combed by vvorms in the quarry.”
- To decorate (something) with a honeycomb pattern.
- To make way deeply into (something) so as to weaken it; to undermine.
- To ornament (a ceiling) with honeycomb work (see noun sense 2.4).
- To become riddled with small holes, especially in a pattern resembling a honeycomb; also, to become hollow or weakened in this way.