have a bee in one's bonnet

bee

H h

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [bee]
- /hæv eɪ bi ɪn wʌnz ˈbɒn ɪt/
- /həv ə biː ɪn wʌnz ˈbɒn.ɪt/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [bee]
- /hæv eɪ bi ɪn wʌnz ˈbɒn ɪt/

Definitions of have a bee in one's bonnet words

noun have a bee in one's bonnet any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebees, honeybees, etc. 1
noun have a bee in one's bonnet the common honeybee, Apis mellifera. 1
noun have a bee in one's bonnet a community social gathering in order to perform some task, engage in a contest, etc.: a sewing bee; a spelling bee; a husking bee. 1
idioms have a bee in one's bonnet have a bee in one's bonnet, to be obsessed with one idea. to have eccentric or fanciful ideas or schemes: Our aunt obviously has a bee in her bonnet, but we're very fond of her. 1
idioms have a bee in one's bonnet put the bee on, Informal. to try to obtain money from, as for a loan or donation: My brother just put the bee on me for another $10. 1
idioms have a bee in one's bonnet the bee's knees, Older Slang. (especially in the 1920s) a person or thing that is wonderful, great, or marvelous: Her new roadster is simply the bee's knees. 1

See all 9 definitions of have a bee in one's bonnet

Information block about the term

Origin of have a bee in one's bonnet

First appearance:

before 1000

One of the 6% oldest English words

before 1000; Middle English be(e); Old English bīo, bēo; cognate with Dutch bij, Old Saxon bī, bini, Old High German bīa, bini (German Biene), Old Norse bȳ; with other suffixes, Lithuanian bìtė, OPruss bitte, OCS bĭchela, Old Irish bech; *bhi- is a North European stem with the same distribution as wax1, apple; put the bee on probably an allusion to sting in sense “dupe, cheat”

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Have a bee in one's bonnet

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Have a bee in one's bonnet