honeycomb

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“
That ubiquitous denizen of the Great Plains, the gopher, honeycombs the earth, and the French word for 'honeycomb' is gaufre.

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Definitions (22)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A structure of hexagonal, thin-walled cells constructed from beeswax by honeybees to hold honey and larvae.
  2. noun Something resembling this structure in configuration or pattern.
  3. transitive verb To fill with holes or compartments; riddle: cliffs that were honeycombed with caves and grottoes.
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Examples

  • That ubiquitous denizen of the Great Plains, the gopher, honeycombs the earth, and the French word for 'honeycomb' is gaufre. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VII No 4
  • The remarkable thing about Bolton was that the walls had flues running through them like a honeycomb, which carried heat from the fireplaces not that this mattered in the summer. —  Mary Queen Of Scotland And The Isles
  • Rollo had appropriated the remnants of honeycomb, and was noisily gnawing and slurping at the wax, with complete enjoyment. —  A Breath of Snow and Ashes
  • “Thy lips drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.” —  Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “A book as full of sweetness as a honeycomb, of gentleness as woman's heart; in its wisdom worthy the disciple of a Solomon, in its genius the child of a Milton. —  My Life as an Author
 

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Honeycomb has been looked up 231 times, favorited once, listed 13 times, and commented on once.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English honycomb, hunycomb, honycoom, huny-camb, from Anglo-Saxon hunigcamb, from hunig, honey, + camb, comb. The name is not found outside of English; other words for ‘honeycomb’ are D. honigzeem = Icelandic hunangsseimr, literally ‘honey-string’; Swedish honungskaka = Danish honningkage, literally ‘honey-cake’; German honigscheibe, literally ‘honey-shive,’ or honig-wabe, literally ‘honey-cake,’ bienen-wabe, literally ‘bee-cake,’ or simply wabe, literally ‘cake’ or ‘wafer,’ or ‘waffle’: see wafer, waffle. The L. term was favus (see favus); the Greek, μελικηρίς or μελικήριον.
  2. from honeycomb, n.
 

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/ˈhənɪkoʊm/
by American Heritage

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