Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A sweet yellowish or brownish viscid fluid produced by various bees from the nectar of flowers and used as food.
- n. A similar substance made by certain other insects.
- n. A sweet substance, such as nectar.
- n. Sweetness; pleasantness.
- n. Sugary or ingratiating words; flattery.
- n. Informal Sweetheart; dear. Used as a term of endearment.
- n. Informal Something remarkably fine: a honey of a car.
- v. To sweeten with or as if with honey.
- v. To cajole with sweet talk.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A sweet viscid fluid collected from the nectaries of flowers and elaborated for food by several kinds of insects, especially by the honey-bee, Apis mellifica. It is deposited by the honey-bee in the cells of the honeycomb. Honey, when pure, is of a whitish color tinged with yellow, of a spicy sweetness and an agreeable smell; it is soluble in water, and becomes vinous by fermentation. It is essentially a solution of dextrose and levulose with volatile oils and occasionally cane-sugar. Bees often fill their cells with other substances than the nectar of flowers, as molasses, honeydew, or the juices of fruits, but the product is not true honey.
- n. Figuratively, sweetness or charm.
- n. Sweet one; darling: a trivial word of endearment.
- Having the nature of honey; sweet; luscious.
- To cover with or as with honey; sweeten; make delicious: as, “honeyed lines of rhyme,”
- To talk sweetly to; coax; flatter.
- To become sweet; be or become complimentary or tender; use endearments; talk fondly.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable A viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees. Often used to sweeten tea or to spread on baked goods.
- n. countable A variety of this substance.
- n. figuratively Something sweet or desirable.
- n. A term of affection.
- n. countable, informal A woman, especially an attractive one.
- n. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of (the sweet substance) honey.
- adj. Describing a thing involving or resembling honey.
- adj. A spectrum of pale yellow to brownish-yellow colour, like that of most types of honey.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A sweet viscid fluid, esp. that collected by bees from flowers of plants, and deposited in the cells of the honeycomb.
- n. That which is sweet or pleasant, like honey.
- n. Sweet one; -- a term of endearment.
- v. To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments; also, to be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn.
- v. To make agreeable; to cover or sweeten with, or as with, honey.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
- adj. of something having the color of honey
- v. sweeten with honey
- n. a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
Etymologies
- Middle English hony, honi, from Old English huniġ, from Proto-Germanic *hunagan (cf. West Frisian hunich, German Honig), from earlier *hunangan (cf. Swedish honung), from pre-Germanic *kn̥h₂onkós, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ónks (gen. *kn̥h₂kós) (cf. Middle Welsh canecon ("gold"), Latin (pl.) canicae ("bran"), Tocharian B kronkśe ("bee"), Albanian qengjë ("beehive"), Ancient Greek κνηκός (knēkós, "pale yellow")), Kurdish şan ("beehive"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English honi, from Old English hunig. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“You say you don't want both butter _and_ honey -- you want butter _or_ honey; I, on the contrary, _do not want butter or honey_ -- I want them both.”
How to Write Clearly Rules and Exercises on English Composition
“The honey gathered from the genus erica (termed _heather honey_) and most labiate plants, is wholesome.”
“Every trap was set, and baited as before with a mass of honey -- but _honey now mixed with a potent sleeping draft_.”
“Google Trends shows a steep climb in searches for the term "honey badger" starting in February, rising into this month.”
“Dipping a round challah in honey is customary at Rosh Hashanah”
“The word honey smelled the worst, and I pretended to look out my window to get away from it.”
“There are these villages that have what we call honey buckets.”
“The minute Fawcett said the word honey, Snyder knew why the smell was so familiar and so arousing.”
“After describing the two-horned rhinoceros, hitherto unknown, the gnu -- an animal in form something between the horse and the ox -- the gazelle, the baboon, and the hippopotamus, the habits of which were previously imperfectly known, Sparrman describes a curious bird, of great service to the natives, which he calls the honey-guide.”
Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century
“A man who offers for sale, inferior honey, or sugar which he calls honey, and which he is able to sell because it is stored in white comb, to those who would never purchase it if they knew what it was, or once had a taste of it, is not”
Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee A Bee Keeper's Manual
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘honey’.
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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Words that are also movies
Unabashedly stolen from a comment made by courier12.
vertigo, serendipity, casablanca, psycho, jaws, fantasia, stagecoach, network, rocky, giant, platoon, unforgiven and 285 more...
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AGRI - apiculture
acacia, alfalfa, Arbutus unedo, ash content, baker's honey, Banksia menziesii, bee plant, Bell heather, blackberry honey, blend of honeys, blossom honey, borage and 183 more...
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honey phrases/words
how honey is used
clarified honey, clover honey, corn honey, honey agaric, honey ant, honey-apple, honey-baby, honey-badger, honey-bag, honey-balm, honey banana, honey-basket and 205 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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FUN - Beatles song titles
Typical words from Beatles song titles. Can you recreate the titles?
(Grammatical words have been omitted)another, three, place, work, eyes, new, said, give, face, day, going, like and 388 more...
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RELI - words with Biblical connotations
Words in the Bible evoking biblical stories or with special spiritual meaning. Proper names have been reduced to the minimum.
ark, judgement, holy, saint, baptism, spirit, love, eternal, altar, balsam, covenant, flood and 1115 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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food and drinks
honey, breakfast, omelette, cheese, salami, hot dog, sausage, turkish salami, butter, olives, muesli, tofurkey
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Nouns
ability, man, tree, apple, computer, chip, sheep, word, letter, light, dog, cube and 61 more...
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Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Or honey, or baby, or ...
(A Valentine's Day list.)amoret, bonnilasse, ladybird, leikin, leman, love-lass, Phyllis, pout, sweetness, munchkin, darling, sayang and 87 more...
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Non-Newtonian Fluids
oobleck, ketchup, catsup, custard, toothpaste, shampoo, paint, flubber, Silly Putty, quicksand, Coca-Cola, epoxy and 12 more...
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Childhood
Hula-Hoop, fairies, twirl, twinkle, glitter, candyland, firefly, June bug, wonderland, Alice-in-Wonderland, bedtime stories, spelling bee and 27 more...
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Color Words for Shoes
Vendors can get oddly creative.
amaranth, brindle, iguana, slate black, madder brown, bison, pinecone, seal brown, forest night, burnt orange, monument, beet red and 399 more...
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In The Colorhouse
A colorhouse - a manufactory of colors for tints, dyes, pigments, paints, glazes, &c. Terms associated with the science and history of colormaking.
All sorts of things went into color...colorhouse, Turkey red, dyebath, woad, ocher, lead white, mordant, Naples yellow, zaffer, kiln, vat, pot and 298 more...
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figgiegirl's list
Words that have some type of sensual innuendo or linkage
Tweets
Looking for tweets for honey.

treeseed "Honey" - The title of a song written by Bobby Russell and recorded by Bobby Goldsboro Jan 21, 2008
npydyuan "What happened to a sense of wonder
On yonder hillside, getting dim
Why didn’t they leave us, alone
Why couldn’t we just be ourselves
We could dream, and keep bees
And live on honey street"
Van Morrison, "Pagan Streams" Sep 17, 2007