| 释义 |
honeyn.adj. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hunich (West Frisian huning , hunich ), Old Dutch honig (Middle Dutch honich , honech , honinc , honinch , Dutch honing , †honig ), Old Saxon honag , honeg , honig , huneg (Middle Low German hōnich , hȫnich , honnich ), Old High German honag , honig , honang (Middle High German honec , honic , German Honig ), Old Icelandic hunang , Old Swedish hunagh , honagh , hanog (Swedish honung ), Old Danish hunung , hunugh , hunigh , hunagh (Danish honning ), perhaps ultimately < the same Indo-European base as classical Latin canicae bran, ancient Greek κνῆκος safflower, and perhaps also Sanskrit kanaka gold, Old Prussian cucan brown, perhaps originally reflecting a word with the meaning ‘honey-coloured’, although this etymology presents formal difficulties. For a probable Indo-European word for honey, reflected by Gothic miliþ , see mell n.2Form variation shown by cognates. Forms with a nasal before the velar in the second syllable, especially those found in North Germanic languages, present formal difficulties and have been explained in various ways. (Finnish hunaja , a loanword from a Germanic language, points to a donor form without such a nasal, but does not necessarily show an early borrowing into Finnish.) Form history. In Old English a strong neuter (a -stem). The β. forms are probably mainly graphic, arising from a spelling convention originally intended to reduce confusion of minim strokes (compare discussion at O n.1); apparently contradictory evidence from rhymes is rare and late (as in quot. 1713 at sense A. 5b, from a poet who often employs inexact rhymes); rhymes on money are common in earlier verse. The γ. forms may show a development directly from the α. forms, rather than from a form with the vowel corresponding to Middle English close ō ; compare discussion in A. J. Aitken & C. Macafee Older Sc. Vowels (2002) §16.1. Use in names. Earlier currency in figurative use (compare sense A. 4) is perhaps implied by place names such as Hunigbroc (river name), Worcestershire (11th cent. in a copy of a charter of 866; now Honeybrook), Hunigburne (river name), Worcestershire (11th cent.; now Honeybourne), Hunighamm , Wiltshire (12th cent. in a copy of a charter of 988; now lost), Hunilege , Warwickshire (1208; now Honiley), Hunewyll , Devon (1249; now Honeywell), etc., which may have reference to the sweetness or pleasantness of the water or pasture; however, these are more likely to refer to places where honey was found or produced. Earlier currency of sense A. 5 is perhaps implied by nicknames and surnames, e.g. Geoffrey Hony (1275), Richard Honey (1279), Robert le Hony (1296); however, these may alternatively reflect use referring to a person who produces or sells honey (compare honeyman n. at Compounds 1b(a)) or a person with a partiality for honey. A. n. I. A sweet sticky fluid made by insects, and related uses. 1. the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] eOE (Mercian) (1965) xviii. 10 Dulciora super mel et fauum : swoetran ofer hunig & biobread. OE Acct. Voy. Ohthere & Wulfstan in tr. Orosius (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 17 Þær bið swyðe mycel hunig & fiscað. ?a1200 (?OE) (1896) 11 Nim sauinam and ambrotena and cnuca hi..and meng piper þarto and sum dal huniȝes [L. cum..mellis modico]. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 1013 (MED) Hony & milc þer is muche. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. liv. 1318 Alle hony is swete. But in Sardinia hony is bitter, for þerinne is ful moche wermode. ?c1425 Recipe in (Arun. 334) (1790) 450 Take fygges..and close hom in foyles of dogh, and frie hom, and flawme hom with honey. 1483 (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 192 To make Huny, mellifacere. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. (Rawl.) (1898) 247 Hote drynke makyd wyth Hoony. 1590 E. Spenser ii. iii. sig. P2 Sweete wordes, like dropping honny she did shed. c1600 (?c1395) (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 726 Dranes doþ nouȝt, but drynkeþ vp þe huny. 1611 Exod. iii. 8 A lande flowing with milke and hony . View more context for this quotation 1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 70 in Beer mingled with Hony to entice the Wasps. 1718 J. Quincy 34 The Honey is order'd to be clarify'd or despumated. 1792 R. Burns (1968) II. 605 It's a' for the hiney he'll cherish the bee. 1838 C. Thirlwall V. xxxvii. 21 His body, immersed in honey, was carried home for a royal burial. 1881 Aug. 500/1 Many have not taken any honey this season, and fears are entertained by some of their bees starving. 1926 A. A. Milne vi. 77 He sat down and took the top off his jar of honey. 1992 A. Bell tr. M. Toussaint-Samat ix. 268 The wine was sweetened with honey. 2012 (Nexis) 16 Sept. n1 Generally speaking, early spring honeys tend to be lighter in colour, with milder tastes. eOE (Royal) (1865) ii. lxv. 292 Wiþ utwærce genim unsmerigne healfne cyse, do englisces huniges iii snæda to. OE (2001) I. xiii. 8 Genim grene rudan; cnuca smale & wes mid doran hunige oððe mid dunhunige; wring þurh linenne clað on þæt eage swa lange swa him ðearf sy. OE (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 4 Hys mete wæs..wuduhunig [OE Lindisf. hunig udu; L. mel silvestre]. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 9225 Itt wass huniȝ off þe feld. c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Mark i. 6 John was clothid with heeris of camelis..and he eet locustus, and hony of the wode. a1400 tr. Lanfranc (Ashm.) (1894) 80 Wiþ watir..þat mirre wormode, horhone, sauge, pimpernelle hony symple or compounned ben soden yn. ?c1450 in (1896) 18 301 Of cler hony and rye-flour late bake a kake. 1566 W. Adlington tr. Apuleius iii. xv. f. 30 Water, cowe milke, mountaine hony and other licour. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach iv. f. 184 There is three sortes of Hony, the best kinde is that which is called Authim, or flowre Hony, made in the spring-time: the next, is Sommer Hony, or hasty Hony, made in thirty dayes after the tenth of Iune,..the thyrd is Heath Hony, a wyld kind of Hony. 1607 E. Topsell 211 This powder with Hony atticke, taketh away the spottes in the face. 1651 W. Davenant iii. i. x. 168 Kisses in their taste and odour sweet, As Hybla Hony, or Arabian Dew. 1786 75 App. 541 Between 8 and 10 drops of the best Spanish honey. 1846 J. von Hammer tr. Evliya Çelebi I. ii. lvi. 54 I drank only of the sherbet, called mubtejil, made with Athenian honey. 1851 N. Hawthorne x. 160 Their whole hive of New England honey. 1907 21/1 Honey... English... Californian... West India... Pure Heather... Gatinais. 1952 July 3 The flowers of the Tuart yield a profuse good quality nectar and Tuart honey is light in colour, of a pleasing flavour, and fine-grained when candied. 1987 Apr. 142/2 I..covered the thick slices of just-grilled toast with sweet butter and creamy lavender honey. 2009 23 Nov. 80 (caption) The crunchy..fried dough balls called struffoli are bound together with Piedmontese honey. 1809 R. Powell tr. 273 Mel Boracis. Honey of Borax. Take of Borate of Soda powdered, a drachm. Clarified Honey, an ounce. Mix. 1871 ii. v. 362 The best local remedy is honey of borax, which ought to be smeared frequently, by means of the finger, on the parts affected. 1940 7 Dec. 729/1 The glycerin and the honey of borax may be replaced by watery solutions of aniline dyes in the treatment of thrush. 1996 J. E. F. Reynolds (ed. 31) 1680/3 Borax Glycerin and Honey of Borax were formerly used as paints for the throat, tongue, and mouth, but should not be used due to the risk of toxicity. 2. the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 326 Nectar, hunig uel mildeaw. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. lxxiii. 647 Been þat gadereþ hony visiteþ and haunteþ floures bycause of gaderynge of hony. c1450 J. Lydgate (Sloane 2464) l. 1366 Been at mydsoomyr bryng hoony to ther hyvys. 1486 (Rood & Hunte) sig. qviii/2 The wormes..sokith hony of flowres. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus I. Ep. Ded. f. xviv Out of one and the same floure the Bee gathereth honey, and the spider sucketh venome. 1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne ii. ii. sig. P4 Euen as Bees suck hony from flowers. 1682 tr. J. Goedaert i. 1 This Butterfly feeds on sweet things, as Sugar, and the Honey of flowers. 1733 A. Pope ii. 80 Taste the Honey, and not wound the Flower. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud iv. x, in 21 The honey of poison-flowers. 1885 G. L. Goodale in A. Gray & G. L. Goodale (ed. 6) II. 451 The nectar..is the sweetish liquid commonly called the ‘honey’ of the flower, secreted by certain specialized organs known as nectar-glands. a1921 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre (1991) vi. 57 These diggers feed their larvæ on Hive-bees, whom they catch on the flowers while gathering pollen and honey. the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > plant juices 1558 W. Bullein f. cv Suger which is called Mel canne, hony of the reed, beyng clene, & not ful of grose pannell, doth clense, and is not so hoate as Bees honye. 1565 J. Hall tr. Lanfranc Antidotarie ix. 68 Put Anacardos, into a whotte payer of smithes tonges, and binde them: Ther will sweate oute of them a honye, which is a Cauterye. 1589 J. Eldred in R. Hakluyt i. 233 We..furnished our selues with rice, butter, bisket, honie made of Dates, Onions and Dates. 1618 W. P. tr. P. de la Primaudaye IV. 663 In Calecut the greene Ginger is steeped and conserued in sugar, or in a kinde of hony that is taken out of certaine cods or husks. 1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc i. xxxv. 159 They have for another dainty a grain in the Islands called Bindi,..they boyl it with milk and sugar, or honey drawn from Palm. 1682 G. Hartman ii. 153 Take fresh Urine of young Boys, fill one Pot with it, and evaporate it away, next Morning put on fresh, and evaporate; do thus three or four days, then evaporate to a Honey. 1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Jewish War iv. viii, in tr. Josephus 868 The better sort of them [sc. palm trees], when they are pressed, yield an excellent kind of honey. 1756 R. Rolt ii. ii. 307 The maguey is a tree, from which the Indians get a kind of honey, vinegar, and drink. 1832 W. Macgillivray xxv. 387 This juice or honey has an agreeable acid taste. 1883 H. W. V. Stuart 271 The treacle which drains from the sugar is called black honey, and is much used by the natives. 1934 in (1991) II. 1021/1 Ten quarts [of maple sap] make a pound of honey. 1966 R. J. Forbes V. ii. 100 The juice of other plants may have been used too, for instance the ‘honey’ made from the coconut. 1994 Z. Safrai ii. 103 In the Mishnah and Talmud period,..date honey was rather rare. the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > yellowish brown the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > golden yellow 1888 C. T. Whitmell xii. 183 Yellows may be distinguished as..honey..gold, [etc.]. 1923 8 May 14 In Reseda,..Champagne, Honey, Copper. 1981 (Nexis) 29 Oct. c10/1 They were paired with skirts in matching shades such as honey or pink to look like dresses. 2008 Feb. 70/1 Her finished works follow the natural curves of the native wood and highlight its myriad colors—espresso, caramel, honey. II. Figurative and extended uses. the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sweetness > [noun] 1340 (1866) 60 (MED) Þe blonderes byeþ þe dyeules noriches..Hy smerieþ þane way of helle mid hony. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 21296 Þe stile o matheu, water it was..And john honi suet als suilk. c1440 (a1349) R. Rolle in (1931) 55 Swa sulde we do agaynes devells þat afforces tham to reve fra us þe hony of poure lyfe and of grace. 1546 S. Gardiner f. xxviv In the meanyng of scripture is..the swetnes, ye fode, the hony of scripture, without which the wordes be a bytter shale, and an harde bone. 1599 W. Shakespeare v. iii. 92 Death that hath suckt the honey of thy breath. View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher iii. ii. 22 Matter..that for euer marres The Hony of his Language. View more context for this quotation 1646 Bp. J. Hall 48 That which is hony to others, is no better then gall & wormwood to me. 1738 A. Pope 5 The Honey dropping from Ty—l's tongue. 1779 S. Johnson Milton in II. 60 Milton, having now tasted the honey of publick employment, would not return to hunger and philosophy. 1854 W. M. Thackeray I. xxiii. 216 Mrs. Mack was not all honey. 1893 R. L. Stevenson xxx. 365 He said it with a serious heat of admiration that was honey to the girl. 1929 Sept. 53/2 So I seen big black preacher..talkin' sweet honey 'bout restin' in bosom of Jesus. 1995 24 May 31/2 Bruce Ford..has found new honey in his tone to match his amazing ease above the stave. 2011 8 May 3/1 Art, goes the saying, is the stored honey of the human soul. 5. Now chiefly colloquial. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 1655 William..seide, ‘mi hony, mi hert, al hol þou me makest’. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 106 My hwny, my hart, my houp, my heill. 1560 sig. A.iiiv Welcome my hony ay. 1607 T. Middleton ii. sig. E2 Hunny, how's this? 1673 T. Shadwell ii. 26 My dear honey, how have I offended thee? 1712 J. Arbuthnot vi. 22 Our Affairs, Honey, are in a bad Condition. 1749 H. Fielding III. vii. vi. 38 Follow her, Boy, follow her; run in, run in, that's it, Honeys . View more context for this quotation 1832 F. Trollope (ed. 2) I. x. 140 My children..she always addressed by their Christian names, excepting when she substituted the word ‘honey’. 1859 H. B. Stowe xxiii. 215 Honey, darlin', ye a'n't right—dar's a drefful mistake somewhar'. 1929 M. Connelly (1930) i. v. 55 Come on, honey, an' meet de folks. 1952 20 Mar. 3 She doesn't have a thing that you haven't got, honey, but she has it over here. 2010 Feb. 78/2 Honey, I've dabbled in everything. the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 431 Alisoun his hony deere. 1638 R. Crofts sig. A7v She is his honey, his Doue, his delight. ?a1677 (single sheet) Jenny Wooes Johnny To tye her Kirtle, and shee'l be his Honey. 1713 J. Smith 295 Resolving to solace with Crony, She took the Shepherd for her Honey. 1829 4 133 She, little doubting but dead was her honey, Cried, Paddy, you are gone, boy, and so is your money. 1863 S. P. Boyer Diary 23 Oct. in (1963) xi. 181 Billy and his ‘honey’, as he calls his wife, almost bursted with joy. 1903 ‘O. Henry’ in Apr. 128/1 This Rafael seems to be her honey, all right. 1976 9 Dec. 54/2 I started to fantasize a story of my honey coming home. 2010 8 July 44/2 Cozy up with your honey next to this battery operated faux, glow-in-the-dark fireplace. the mind > attention and judgement > attractiveness > [noun] > attractive person > woman 1843 Aug. 186/2 We met a bevy of beautiful creatures..of beautiful girls... This was no common incident—coming upon these honies on such hallowed ground. 1918 I. K. Hornibrook i. 3 My wor-rd! she is a honey. 1932 R. Fisher vi. 51 I asked..what this honey's name was. 1975 E. Abbey v. 62 Aint she really something?.. Now that little girl is a real honey. Finger-lickin' good. 1990 Oct. 20/1 I saw a flock of females checkin' out the def MC... I wanted that power of magical conversation: to be able to pull all the fly honeys. 2011 J. Hart 266 ‘How about the girl.’ Robins smiled. ‘She's a honey.’ ‘That was not my question.’ 6. slang. the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > good person the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > good thing 1848 E. F. Ellet II. xliii. 233 Poor Nancy!—she was a honey of a patriot—but the devil of a wife! 1854 L. Linden I. xi. 167 That's a darlint—a perfect jewel—a honey of a child. 1888 24 Feb. 1/7 It's a great day for Dave... He has driven a long spike in his political opponent's coffin, whoever he may be. Dave is a honey. 1934 17 Feb. 42/3 In the first minute of the third [round] he got to my jaw with a honey of a right cross. 1968 3 Feb. 38/1 (advt.) A real honey, automatic power steering, power brakes, radio. 2000 S. Burgauer xi. 96 That honey of a law clerk, Nikki, prepared a wonderful account of the amendment process. the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > that which is difficult > a difficult thing or person 1932 Johns Hopkins Jargon in 7 333 Honey,..anything very difficult. 1934 L. Hellman i. 27 Martha:..has she always been like this? Cardin: She's always been a honey. Aunt Amelia's spoiling hasn't helped any, either. 1960 H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner 265/1 Honey, a person who is difficult to please; a difficult problem or task. 1859 G. W. Matsell (at cited word) Honey. Money. 1906 A. H. Lewis iv. ii. 202 I drew the honey from his poke, fifty quid it was. 1973 12 Feb. 38/3 The principals would not comment on the report that Safire would be making $55,000 a year—a lot of honey for a cub columnist. 1891 25 Dec. 3/5 The room was filthy in the extreme, and the stench that came from all quarters would have put a ‘honey’ wagon to shame. 1948 8 172 [Virginia] I remember seeing an old Negro..clean a privy on my aunt's farm. He told me he was ‘movin' de honey from de garden house’. 1961 G. L. Coon xii.148 She pushed a dung barrow, Singing ‘Dung balls and honey All fresh from the throne’. 2003 J. Ravino & J. Carty xxviii. 124 Papasan would find a ditch and dump his ‘honey’. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > tropical exotic fruit > banana > types of 1938 42 464 (heading) Honey. This variety is..also known by the names Sucrier and Lady's Finger... The skin is very thin and ripens to a deep yellow. The flavour of the fruit is very sweet and gives the variety its name. 1961 F. G. Cassidy xvi. 351 Bananas named for their..flavour and other qualities..apple or honey (the smallest), fig (very small), plum (small). B. adj. ( attributive). the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sweetness > [adjective] > like, as, or with honey the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adjective] > having pleasing speech or eloquent > pleasing (of speech) ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 296 Loke hu ha ȝeulden him for Piment of huni luue. eisil of sur nið. & galle of bitter onde. c1390 (Vernon) 26 Swete Ihesu heuene kyng..Min hony lyf, Min halewy. c1450 J. Lydgate (Sloane 2464) l. 378 Omerus with the hony mouth. 1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre lvi, in sig. Hvii Rethorike, that hoonnie harmelesse arte. 1593 W. Shakespeare sig. B A thousand honie secrets shalt thou know. View more context for this quotation 1609 B. Jonson iii. sig. I2v My most hony gold. View more context for this quotation 1631 J. Weever 20 And to bring you this honie example. 1776 J. Riddel 17 Her honey lips with crimson redness glow. 1793 I. viii. 185 The sweet honey tone in which he expressed himself..awakened more indignation than pity. a1849 T. L. Beddoes (1851) I. 162 As if sweet music's honiest heart did break! 1856 June 48/3 Come forth, come forth, Master Edward James Hartley, and let us see your honey face. 1905 C. B. Loomis xxxii. 386 The gentleman who was running the wheel asked him in honey tones if he wouldn't stay and try his luck again. 1972 K. E. Woodiwiss ix. 360 Brandon needed no other invitation to taste their [sc. lips'] honey sweetness. 1998 23 Aug. 20/2 The honey voice gushes about how fabulous you look. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [adjective] a1556 N. Udall (?1566) iv. iii. sig. f.iii Gentle mistresse Custance now, good mistresse Custance, Honey mistresse Custance now. a1586 Peblis to Play in W. A. Craigie (1919) I. 182 My hony hart how sayis the sang. 1598 W. Shakespeare i. ii. 158 My good sweete hony Lord, ride with vs to morrow. View more context for this quotation 1637 S. Marmion ii. sig. D4 My honey husband, my sweet love,..How doe I prize thee? a1652 R. Brome Novella i. ii, in (1653) Oh mine own Girle, my honey, honey Girle. 1715 C. Bullock i. 10 Nay, good, sweet, honey Daughter, do not indulge thy Passion thus. 1717 C. Shadwell iii. 68 Whilst my Father lived, he loved you well; and my good dear honey Lady, has amply supply'd your wants since. ?1840 M. E. Bennett xxiii. 618 What you speak of, honey-love, has no sense or feeling. 1879 A. L. Wister tr. E. Marlitt xvi. 197 My sweet honey-boy has been out in the strange streets—my bad, naughty boy. 1911 M. J. Garvin vi. 119 Douglas planted fully a dozen kisses under her chin... ‘To pay you, Missy, for scaring your honey boy.’ 1943 V. Mchugh vi. iii. 265 Did you hear what the man said, honey lamb? 2006 B. D'Arc vi. 86 I've missed you, honey girl. What have you been doing with yourself? 1716 T. Purney ii. i. 43 Then for her Pains her Lip soft smack's, And right's and smooth's her Honey-Locks. 1865 4 113 The broad head, honey tint of the basal abdominal rings, shorter antennae and especially the fuscous hairs about the tip of the abdomen will further distinguish it. 1899 ‘F. Macleod’ iii. 263 Malveen of the Honey Hair. 1932 R. Fisher iv. 31 Those dark eyes surely could sparkle brightly, those small lips smile, that clear honey skin glow with animation. 1958 27 Dec. 3/4 Warm Blonde (with honey skin): Stick to the subtle orange-reds. 1998 (Electronic ed.) 28 Feb. 46 Someone whose wistful cadences, and intense conviction, and honey eyes, drew me to that country where we had never met. 2010 L. Handeland xii. 145 The sun spilled through a skylight, illuminating the honey shade of the wooden beams and walls. Phrasesc1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) (1940) 95 Ha lickið honi [a1250 Titus huni] of þornes; he buggeð al þet swete wið twa dale of bittre. a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Nis nan blisse soþes inan þing þet is utewið þet ne beo to bitter aboht; þet et huni þer in beoþ liked of þornes. ?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xxii, in (1881) 4 195 (MED) Al to dere is bouht honi, þat mon shal liken of þornes. c1450 MS Douce 52 in (1906) 50 (MED) Hit is harde to lykke hony fro the thorne. a1598 D. Fergusson (1641) 501 It is dear bought honey that is lickt off a thorne. 1640 J. Parkinson xiv. lxiv. 1342 It is not good to licke your honey from such thornes. 1659 J. Howell Some Prov. French Toung 11/2 in He comes too dear by honey, who licks it off thorns. 1714 J. Blanch 5 It sometimes proves but licking Honey from a Thorn. 1734 R. Seymour (ed. 5) iii. 86 The Games were always precarious, and betting Money that way was thought to be like licking Honey off of Thorns. 1841 5 183 There's no privileges for us who do all the work, and lick honey off thorns. 1883 J. W. Kirton 134 To please an ill-tempered woman is like attempting to lick honey from a thorn. 1915 16 He buys honey dear who has to lick it off thorns. 2011 S. Cooke ii That relationship will be like licking honey off a thorn. 1666 G. Torriano Proverbial Phrases 149/2 in Honey gets more flyes to it, than doth viniger [It. Il mele catta più mosche, che non fà l'aceto]. 1688 tr. H. de Péréfixe de Beaumont 51 A Man catches more Flies with one spoonful of Honey, than twenty Tun of Vineger. 1732 T. Fuller 148 More Flies are taken with a Drop of Honey than a Tun of Vinegar. 1766 (ed. 3) i. v. 40 Honey catches more Flies than Vinegar. 1815 H. C. Knight 96 Honey, from reason we infer, Fattens more flies than vinegar. 1898 15 Nov. 832/2 Mr. Taylor should remember that one can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. 1907 30 Sept. 429/1 The writer is evidently a believer in the old adage that ‘honey catches more flies than vinegar’. 1979 M. Sharp xviii. 164 Honey might attract more flies than vinegar, but nothing beat blackmail at securing the absolute allegiance. 2009 (Nexis) 1 May a10 Obama seems to have added honey to his arsenal in dealing with foreign leaders, and the old adage says that honey catches more flies than vinegar. Compounds C1. Compounds of the noun. a. (a) lOE (Corpus Cambr.) xvii. 455 Trogas, æscena, hyfa, hunigbinna, beorbydene, bæðfæt, [etc.]. c1390 in F. J. Furnivall (1901) ii. 466 (MED) No more is no þing to him I-lyche Þen Galle is to þe hony-streme. ?c1475 (BL Add. 15562) f. 66 A hwny pott or vessell, mellarium. 1596 E. Spenser v. ii. sig. N7 Like foolish flies about an hony crocke. View more context for this quotation 1661 S. Pordage 262 The Sugar, nor the Honey founts of Creet, And Hybla, could a messe make half so sweet, As was that Nectarized Milk. 1742 J. Martyn & E. Chambers tr. IV. 303 The super or honey-box is added, the bars of the super being first furnished with guide combs. 1753 G. A. Stevens 48 Hark the Velvet Bee buzzing the Honey Cups Sip. 1843 1 220 Oh! thou fly on the outside of a honey-shop. 1870 L. L. Greene x. 95 She put the honey spoon into the mustard pot in her confusion. 1882 E. Arnold (1883) xxviii. 99 A wild bee questing honey-buds. 1924 E. Sitwell xxvi. 95 When the thickest gold will thrive Summer-long in the combs of the honey-hive. 1962 C. M. Turnbull ii. 39 The Pygmies, armed only with their small honey axes,..had chopped the smaller trees down at about shoulder height. 1975 7 Aug. 744/1 The data given on the world's honey production are based on 20 years' collection of statistics. 2012 31 Oct. 10/1 Rain and cold weather this summer saw honey yields from hives fall by almost three-quarters..the annual honey survey..revealed. (ii) the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > yellowish brown 1571 T. Hill xii. sig. Bviiiv The honie colour, signifieth a coldnesse and drienesse. 1611 J. Florio Melichlorone, a stone partly yellow and partly of an hony colour. 1715 tr. G. Panciroli II. ii. vi. 301 'Tis [sc. manna is] generally of a snowy, and sometimes of a yellowish and Honey Colour. 1887 47 720 Aspasia was celebrated for her hair—was that honey-colour what we should now call golden brown? 1937 Apr. 116/2 The furniture was stripped down and refinished in the popular honey color. 2000 Apr. 127/3 Good apple flavour..deep honey colour, almost cidery in flavour. 1609 C. Butler sig. B3 It was now honi-harvest, at which time good stals..are ful of wax and hony. 1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Of Pythagorean Philos. in 523 Bees..bring Their Hony-harvest home. 1843 1 28 An abundant honey-harvest. 1998 Sept. 57/2 In my mind the honey harvest is mixed with red leaves and a bite in the air. 1795 II. 10 I have called for my honey-jar and the three shillings. 1838 T. Carlyle (1985) X. 203 Alick's honey-jar is on the table every morning. 1938 H. D. xvi. 64 Doctor Berne Blum went first with the heavy teapot and the clumsy honey jar. 2005 9 Apr. (Save&Spend section) 8/4 As well as the oil jar, there is a honey jar with honey dipper. 1825 14 Dec. 2/6 (advt.) Silver butter or honey knives, tea spoons, sugar tongs,..and pencil cases. 1884 J. Phin Honey-knife, 1. A long thin knife used for separating the combs from the sides of a box-hive. 2. A knife..used for cutting-off the caps of the honey-cells. 1947 9 80 He would cut me wide open with his honey-knife. 2000 J. Craven xxx. 117 She stood, motionless, the honey knife in her hand. 1552 R. Huloet Hony tyme when it is rypely gathered. 1622 G. de Malynes i. xlv. 232 In October beginne to looke whether robbers have spoiled any or not; if it be so that they have, take away your Bees as in Hony time. ?1771 W. White xiii. 87 There is but one time in the year that they [sc. bees] will work without a master, and that is honey-time. 1860 W. Arthur v. 83 The hum of the passers has an unmistakable note of pleasure—like that of bees in honey time. 1941 20 Nov. 11/4 When it's apple time, and honey time—then It's Honey Apple Dumpling time. 2012 (Nexis) 5 May s6 I like Ashley's energy. She's like a bee at honey time. (b) 1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler (1985) 77 For to make hony douse, tak god mylk of almandys & rys, [etc.]. tr. Palladius (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ix. l. 197 For counfyt that is clept honyonfake, Six sester take of grapes Iuce half sour; [etc.]. 1617 H. Ainsworth xvi. 31 As it was gathered, and uncoqued, [the manna] was like honey wafers. 1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in (rev. ed.) 914 Juncates or honey-meats, and wafers, they have divers names as the thing is made. 1696 W. Hope tr. J. de Solleysel ii. lxii. 89 (heading) A Honey-Charge or Remolade, for a Blow. 1774 N. D. Falck iv. 145 Open it [sc. a boil] with the incision lancet; and continue with your honey paste, till the core is discharged. 1805 II. ii. 12 He..asserted it as his opinion that mother Eve eat [sic] the forbidden apple coddled in the sun with cream and honey sauce. 1854 J. R. Morell xv. 305 The meal..consisted of hard eggs, honey pancakes, boiled fowls, and cous-coussou. 1939 Dec. 874/2 When a bear cub becomes listless and refuses to eat, it is fed honey sandwiches..impregnated with the vitamin extract. 1973 C. A. Wilson vii. 234 It is easy to believe that in Britain milk-bread and honey-bread were produced. 2009 G. McDonald viii. 181 They do a nice crispy salad with marinated goat's cheese, bacon, and a honey dressing. (ii) 1609 J. Davies sig. I2v All like Honny-Bees sweet murmure make, Against those Waspes, that spoil'd their honny Cake. 1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity 963 He that descended carried certaine honie cakes. 1710 J. Addison No. 255. ⁋ 2 It was usual for the Priest..to feast upon the Sacrifice, nay the Honey-Cake. 1853 W. J. Hickie tr. Aristophanes II. 418 I will now knead you a honey-cake. 1971 S. Howatch (1972) iii. iv. 301 We had a little elderberry wine for elevenses, and quite the nicest honey cakes I've ever tasted. 2010 15 Oct. (Health & Wellbeing Suppl.) 10/3 Staff were sent a leaflet showing how they could help clients..prepare traditional foods such as honey cake. 1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in (rev. ed.) 912 Six kindes of honey-drink [L. melliti] the Ancients made principally. 1716 (Royal Soc.) 2 745 We hope that Meath, Metheglin, and other Honey Drinks, will in a short time give Place to these Sugar-wines. 1818 R. Alsop (ed. 2) 209 Filling it up in the mean time with some of the reserved honey drink warmed. 1896 P. Carus 12 He offered to the groom the honey drink, and presented to his daughter the bridal gown. 1992 39/1 A beekeeper in Saxby Corner produces mead, a delicious honey drink served as an apéritif or table wine. a1718 H. Needler (1724) 12 Delicious Honey Mead..The Gods to their own Nectar might prefer. 1834 T. Pringle i. 19 The honey-mead, the millet-ale, Flow round. 1953 7 Oct. 13/4 One of the..men got hold of an ancient recipe for honeymead. 2001 July 28/2 (caption) Residues that molecular archaeologists have determined were a mixture of beer, wine, and honey mead. 1891Honey wagon [see sense A. 8]. 1915 Coll. Slang in 4 233 Honey-house, water-closet. 1959 P. Frank vii. 133 Randy recalled the sickly, pungent stench of the honey carts with their loads of human manure for the fields of Korea. 1994 R. G. Maier 131 Because of their extensive toilet and washbowl facilities, the honey wagon, motor home, and star trailers will have septic holding tanks. 2010 H. Brewster 176 We watched as Russian prisoners poured excrement from the honey pit down into the tunnel. (d) Objective with agent and verbal nouns and participles. 1552 R. Huloet Hony dressers, mellisones. 1596 C. Fitzgeffry sig. F3v Honie-dropping Aganippes fount. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. xi. vii. 313 The first foundation of their worke, skilfull honie-maisters [L. periti] doe call Commosis. 1613 S. Hutton tr. J. M. de Franchis ii. 30 Hony-sucking Bees. 1742 J. Martyn & E. Chambers tr. IV. 317 Comb, hive, and honey ought to weigh at least thirty pounds, or the bees will suffer from want of food before they begin honey-collecting in the spring. 1822 H. Phillips (ed. 2) II. 329 The honeymasters and those that kept bees, expected a good year when the thyme blossomed abundantly. 1854 J. D. Hooker II. 68 Of beetles the honey-feeding ones prevailed. 1881 XII. 136/1 Honey-secreting glands are to be met with on the leaves. 1951 22 201 Honey loving beasts such bears or skunks. 1992 A. Bell tr. M. Toussaint-Samat i. 26 When honey-hunting became beekeeping it was still a masculine occupation. 2003 N. Rudaheranwa et al. in J. S. Wilson & V. O. Abiola v. 390/2 A honey farmer is better-off in terms of income than a coffee farmer. (ii) a1802 E. Darwin (1803) Addit. Notes 36 The wonderful transformations of leaf-eating caterpillars into honey-eating moths and butterflies. 1936 K. L. Smith 121 Pretty brush-tailed marsupial honey-eating mice, with gentle eyes and movements. 2012 (Nexis) 26 May 18 Little honey-eating birds love native fuchsias. 1611 J. Florio Melifero,..honie-bearing. 1628 G. Sandys tr. Ovid (rev. ed.) xv. 428 Who sees the Young of honie-bearing Bees In their sexangular inclosure, sees Their bodies limb-lesse. 1785 H. Marshall 139 It hath..a..honey-bearing Gland, or Nectarium, in the center of the flower. 1849 J. S. Roe 44 The ‘Mūngart’, or honey-bearing Banksia, so prized by natives during its flowering season. 1911 125 He could greatly increase his yield of honey by sowing his waste land to honey bearing plants. 2010 (Nexis) 15 Mar. a1 While they're part of the bee family, they differ considerably from their honey-bearing cousins. 1552 R. Huloet Hony gatherer, Mellarius, uel ria, Vindemiator. 1778 1 82/2 That which is drunk by the honey-gatherers, who reside there in small bodies the greatest part of the year. 1884 Mar. 63 If they be as black as the ace of spades, and prove themselves the best honey gatherers, they are the bees for me. 1917 July 566/1 (advt.) Golden Italian queens that produce..as good honey-gatherers as can be found. 2008 21 Apr. 72/1 We had arranged to meet with a group of honey gatherers, who..undertake the most dangerous forest work. 1552 R. Huloet Hony gatherynge, as in the time of gathering hony. 1570 B. Googe tr. T. Kirchmeyer i. f. 73 The hony gathering Bees are praysde. 1679 M. Rusden 53 Hony-gathering being past, the Bees have no more need of them [sc. drones]. 1721 J. Gedde ii. 6 We in this Part of the World acknowledge, but one fort of Domestick Honey-gathering bees. 1853 T. T. Lynch ii. 40 The continued honey-gathering of the bee. 1921 Aug. 524 (advt.) 800 honey-gathering colonies from which to select the very best breeders. 1999 M. Poffenberger v. 137 Honey gathering is done by smaller groups of five to eight individuals. 2012 (Nexis) 30 Sept. The beekeeper was able to continue her honey-gathering activities. 1777 (Royal Soc.) 67 44 It is then heard calling in a shrill tone cherr, cherr, which the honey-hunters carefully attend to as the summons to the chace. 1899 Nov. 197/1 The Dyak honey-hunter had fastened to his back a basket to receive the honey. 2003 May 145/2 The honey hunters extract sticky treasure with bare hands among the roaring noise of the hive. 1552 R. Huloet Hony maker, melliturgus. 1608 E. Topsell 68 There are none Idle, although they be not all Honny-makers. 1774 O. Goldsmith VIII. iv. ii. 92 There are various kinds [of bee] among us, that have much the appearance of honey-makers, and yet make only wax. 1826 19 244/1 Smack comes an infuriated honey-maker against your eye-lid. 1914 Sept. 13/2 From the galls on scrub oaks the honey-makers obtain their supply of honey. 2012 (Nexis) 20 Oct. (Guide Suppl.) 38 This annual festival of honey has just about everything that the experienced or potential honey-maker could wish for. 1552 R. Huloet Hony makynge, mellificatio. 1607 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto (new ed.) xxvi. xvi. 207 If you haue seene the hony making Bees..leaue their hiues. 1688 R. Holme ii. ix. 191/1 Each other Comb, contained four orders of Cels, the one for Labouring Bees, the next Drones possess; the next for the Issue of the Bees, and the last for Honey making. a1721 M. Prior (1784) III. 23 The fertile hills, where..honey-making flow'rs their opening buds disclose. 1882 v. 57 An early spring, a hot summer, and a late autumn is the best kind of season for honey-making. 1995 F. Inglis x. 222 Instead of signal-box-keeping, honey-making, dahlia-raising,..and joinery, instead of these literary criticism, political theory. 2012 (Nexis) 2 Nov. 14 Honey-making native bees are attracted by gum tree flowers. 1705 A. Symson Introd. 4 These men are nasty spiders, that do gather Poison from Honey-yielding flowrs. 1830 Aug. 491 Not a flower that lurks in sylvan shade Should hide from me its honey-yielding coil. 1914 Aug. 175 When bees are kept in any numbers, a location must be chosen near great fields of some honey-yielding plant. 2003 M. Niall 3 Apis mellifera, the highly productive honey-yielding bee most common today. (e) Instrumental and parasynthetic. 1596 C. Fitzgeffry sig. F7 Aganippes hony-bubling fountaine. 1599 M. Drayton (new ed.) f. 95v That honey-steeped gall, We oft are sayd to bayte our Loues withall. 1601 J. Weever sig. B This..hony-bubling fountaine,..Descending from the Diamond-rockie mountaine. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 229 Enioy the hony-heauy-Dew of Slumber. View more context for this quotation 1745 W. Thompson i. 2 Where pleasure rolls her honey-trickling streams, Of blooming health and laughter-dimpled joy. 1835 W. H. C. Grey Pref. p. x The tales of fiction and romance—the honey-flavoured vehicles for conveying the insidious poison of infidelity. 1868 26 Sept. 367/1 Some honey-fleshed apricots. 1874 3 Sept. 369/1 A honey-baited pathway leading from the ground. a1905 W. Sharp Immortal Hour ii. ii, in (1910) 386 No word of all these honey-dripping words Is known to me. 1955 L. Feather vii. 227 A honey-toned, jazz-tinged, original song stylist. 1987 R. Thom 17/2 Products include..a range of honey-based food spreads. 2003 (Nexis) 4 May d11 The nearby Paradiso Bakery, with its honey-heavy Middle-Eastern pastry. (ii) 1827 W. G. Simms 91 Joy, like a gilded butterfly, grows sick of ranging, With honey-cover'd wing, from flow'r to flow'r. 1941 H. Fast vii. 195 The cavalry spread out like bees on the honey-covered face of a dull bear. 2005 R. Sanguineti vi. 38 Absentmindedly he ate his breakfast of milk and honey-covered wafers. the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > yellowish brown 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch 93 As for the terme Melichriis [Gk. μελίχρουν], that is, Hony-coloured, it is alwaies..a flattering word..to mitigate and diminish the odiousnesse of a pale hue. 1726 S. Penseyre 79 His Complexion is honey-colour'd or sun-burnt. 1879 R. Browning Ivan Ivanovitch in I. 62 The bush of honey-coloured beard. 1930 127/1 There she lay..with her white throat and her honey-coloured hair flung back across the dark boughs. 2003 Nov. 37/1 Our tap water was honey-colored. OE 1276 Swylce on sumeres tid stincað on stowum staþelum fæste wynnum æfter wongum wyrta geblowene, hunigflowende. OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens (1974) 149 Melliflua studia: huniflowende gecnorndnessa. a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1590) i. i. sig. B2v The hony flowing speach that breath doth carrie. 1626 H. Burton 22 That true hony-flowing land of Canaan. 1740 S. Richardson II. 159 He..said the most generous and affecting Things that ever dropt from the Honey-flowing Mouth of Love! 1806 J. Evans ii. 71 Where closely shelter'd in some distant dell, Safe may they seal the honey-flowing cell. 1998 26 Apr. a11/3 Shaker was lured by visions of honey-flowing rivers and beautiful virgins waiting for him in paradise. 1856 J. Robertshaw 113 Woods, whose glittering leaves, All honey-glazed, are quivering in the breeze. 1907 2 Oct. 2/1 (advt.) Honey glazed cookies, very nice eating. 2004 J. Chiaverini v. 139 The traditional New Year's Day feast of honey-glazed ham with all the trimmings. 1832 212 Yer nainsel', maist honey-hearted dame, was the soul of our discourse. 1916 May 364 They were all his own and as real as the fragrance of a honey-hearted rose. 2010 (Nexis) 23 Apr. 75 Harry begins an affair with a honey-hearted prostitute named Mimi. 1615 J. Andrewes sig. Ev A weede (from which the toylsome Bee cheerfully flies, home to the hiue with hony-laden thighs). 1821 H. Smith 226 When the honey-laden rover Sings again as he retreats. 1937 A. Wynn in J. F. Dobie & M. C. Boatright 217 The wildflowers..afforded the bees with a fine field stretching for miles with honey-laden blossoms. 2003 R. P. Paget 35 Tables groaning under the weight of melamakarona and other honey-laden desserts such as baklava. 1746 J. Warton xi. 38 Observe the honey-loaded bee. 1843 Feb. 119/2 The younger..appeared a fairy butterfly flitting among the flowers of life, to sip of every honey-loaded nectary. 1914 E. McNeil xii. 126 Silas handed the sticky cluster of honey-loaded cells to Ruth. 2011 (Nexis) 9 Sept. 17 The honey-loaded clusters are most popular with the boys. 1784 W. Jones 12 Honey-scented Singarhar. 1871 Sept. 490 The warm south wind Blows, from rathe meadows, over The honey-scented clover. 1969 T. H. Everett 162/2 The lemonwood of New Zealand..has masses of honey-scented yellowish green flowers. 2002 J. Tell in Summer 157 Two old men..inhaling puffs of honey-scented smoke and exhaling it into the good fresh air. 1929 27 Oct. vi. 4/5 She was honey-skinned as became a true arab. 2012 (Nexis) 6 Dec. 57 I saw my young date surrounded by a herd of bare-armed, honey-skinned Gucci gazelles. 1854 Aug. 449 A small gold cup of honey-sweetened rose-water iced in snow. 1920 Oct. 38/2 To..give a lighter product, a little soda or baking powder is added in honey-sweetened products. 2003 15 Nov. (Mag.) 46/2 Lebkuchen, a spicy flour-free, honey-sweetened biscuit base that strongly resembles gingerbread. 1746 T. Nugent tr. C. Lancelot et al. I. Pref. p. xli Athenæus calls him..most admirable and honey-voiced. 1846 23 Mar. 4/3 The thin-skinned, honey-voiced Hewett. 1965 22 Nov. b3/2 The honey-voiced singer has had numerous hit recordings. 2005 C. Hudson xii. 77 The honey-voiced lady in Senator Randall's office was terribly sorry, but the senator and Mr. Noonan were out of town until Friday. (f) Similative, esp. modifying colour words to form adjectives and nouns. tr. Palladius (Duke Humfrey) (1896) x. l. 189 Vpboile hit thenne and stere hit vntil honythicke it renne. 1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber ii. 146 Abstract all the moysture from it in Balneo, and there will remaine a pleasant honey-thick liquor. 1834 J. R. McCulloch (ed. 2) 7 Agate... Its colours are..honey-orange, or ochre yellow, flesh-blood, or brick-red. 1897 L. I. Guiney 18 Her praise drips, honey-bright, from his lip. 1920 E. Pound 28 Honey-red..a basket-work of braids. 1941 15 July 11/5 A single application is said to give a honey-bronze appearance that is startlingly natural. 2001 N. Spivey iv. 57 A honey-dun town spread upon Umbrian foothills. (ii) the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > other browns 1774 24 Feb. (advt.) A honey brown Stone Horse, with a Blaze. 1840 E. Solly in G. T. Vigne ii. 62 The fluid is of a honey-brown colour. 1935 Mar. 147/3 John Livingston..is lithe and bronzed with honey brown eyes. 2002 35 74/2 Patti made a stencil..and used it to stencil on a honey-brown glaze. 1877 Oct. 466/1 Over the walls hang cataracts of roses, honey-pale clusters of the Banksia rose, and pink bushes of the China rose. 1909 J. Galsworthy xli. 345 Its honey-pale light filtered down on every little shape of tree, and leaf, and sleeping flower. 2000 E. James (2009) xiv. 213 Sophie's hair fell in honey-pale curls about her shoulders and down her back. the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [adjective] > other yellows 1615 T. Wood tr. i. sig. B3v The other Italian narcissus flower is..of a pale brimstone Coloure or a honey yellow. 1794 J. G. Schmeisser I. 300 It [sc. honey stone] resembles in colour, texture, and transparency, the honey-yellow amber. 1814 P. Syme 34 Honey Yellow, is sulphur yellow mixed with chestnut brown. 1887 7 234 The laavenite occurs as small honey-yellow crystalline grains. 1958 R. Godden v. 52 Up above were the ruins of the monastery walls, their old stone turned a honey-yellow. 2006 No. 8. (Quick & Clever Suppl.) 45/3 Cut a piece of honey yellow card. 1611 R. Chester 79 O Holy Loue, religious Saint, Mans onely hony-tasting Pleasure. 1826 Oct. 453 It sends out shoots at the top, which terminate in large, white, honey-smelling flowers. 1864 130 268 The natives also collect the flower of a species of Veltheima for spinach; it is said to be very good, but too honey-tasting. 1947 M. Penn vii. 106 The men pulled out thick wads of honey-smelling black twist. 1997 R. M. Ybarra x. 129 The top half of the hill was golden, honey-looking through the last layers of smog. 2000 (Nexis) 9 Feb. For dessert, I selected a gorgeously honey-tasting 10-year-old Porto. b. (a) the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] 1895 8 July 6/1 Kissin it to make it well, are ye? God bless lilley honey baby. 1908 Nov. 84 ‘Honey’, she whispered. ‘Honey-baby!’ At last the child's eyes opened. 1948 E. Waugh 134 She was my honey-baby. 2007 B. McNulty (2009) 189 Well, honey baby, I love you too! the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > honey-bag 1600 W. Shakespeare iii. i. 160 The hony bagges steale from the humble Bees. View more context for this quotation 1774 O. Goldsmith VIII. 75 The..honey-bag..when filled, appears like an oblong bladder. 1883 Oct. 705/1 The bee..carries as a Mormon hierarch has observed, both honey-bag and sting. 1907 12 Jan. 3/4 The honey bag is a real chemical laboratory. 2006 J. G. Vaughan & P. A. Judd 14/1 The nectar is collected by the worker bee and stored in the crop or ‘honey bag’. 1929 May 302/1 ‘I'd jest as soon they give me a honey barge to sail in,’ he would grumble, but if anyone else had compared his ship with a garbage scow, he would have thrown forty fits. 1945 5 Apr. 8/2 A ‘honey barge’, one of the boats that collects garbage for fertilizer. 1962 R. McKenna v. 86 It's easy to walk a honey barge gunwale most times... Only..they was level full, all greenish-brown and covered with flies and bubbles rising and breaking in the hot sun. 2012 G. Crouch i. 9 Bond cringed as the lighter steamed past an anchored ‘honey barge’ awaiting the tide's ebb, heaped to its putrid gunwales with Shanghai ‘night soil’. 1868 A. S. Packard 116 Stiff bristles project over the cavity from each side of the joint, forming the honey-basket. 1905 C. F. Holder xxix. 229 The legs of the worker are provided with ‘honey baskets’, which carry pollen. 2008 C. R. Adams et al. (ed. 5) x. 136 The female worker collects pollen and nectar in special pockets (honey baskets) on its hind legs. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > non-malted brews > [noun] > others the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > beer > [noun] > other kinds of beer 1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb II. 57 They owe not their healths a little to the simplicity of their drink, which is only water, milk, and honey-beer. 1844 J. Backhouse 596 The Bushmen intoxicate themselves with honey-beer. 1867 20 June 437/1 That [copper] which I use for my small brewings of honey beer is made of galvanised iron. 1920 F. C. Cornell 218 Our gang was never full—except of honey beer—which they made from big hauls of wild honey. 2001 J. Gray (Lonely Planet) 132/2 This fantastic brewpub has eight varieties of suds on tap including honey beer, nut brown and the more challenging raspberry blonde. a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. v. 57 The smell of my son is lyke To a feld with flouris or hony-bike. 1768 A. Ross ii. 103 Nae henny beik, that ever I did pree, Did taste so sweet. 1875 M. Ferguson in R. Brown (1890) II. 316 Where the bramble blossoms white Mark the wild bees' honey bike. 1894 21 Apr. 325/3 The shades affected by the Roman ladies were..golden blond, honey blond, and lionato or tawny. 1922 9 Sept. 5/2 Her honey-blonde hair was parted with seeming naivete under a fetching bonnet. 1927 4 Nov. 12/1 The blonde should forego yellows unless she is a honey blonde. 1999 J. Collins (2000) 193 Skin like peaches and cream, soft honey-blond curls. 2012 (Nexis) 16 Feb. 14 How does a leggy, honey-blonde with a svelte figure sound as a lifelong companion? 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus 118 (bis) [119] Fair and smoothe speakyng..Diogenes customably vsed to call an hony brake [L. melleum laqueum], or a snare of honey. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] 1874 5 Feb. 46/6 Posy pink, honey-bunch, tell me, I pray, What are you good for all the long day? 1911 15 12 When a prepossessing damsel of twenty-three..asks you to be her honey bunch what would you do? 1942 P. G. Wodehouse xiv. 144 But where does that get us, honey bunch? 2011 25 Dec. (Herald-Times ed.) f3/5 Pickett is dating but has no special someone. ‘I had a honeybunch up until about four months ago.’ 1887 1 Oct. 5/2 You precious little honey bunny boy. 1950 T. H. Phillips iii. 31 In each arm he carried an Irish setter puppy... ‘Take it, Honey-bunny.’ 2009 (Nexis) 14 Feb. l10 Snuggle with your honey bunny under a cozy mohair throw with multicoloured fringe. 1657 S. Purchas i. xiii. 70 The Bees contrive their Hony-cels both wisely, and artificially, for distending the Wax into a thin membrane, they frame together many and numerous cells. 1790 W. Smellie I. xiii. 338 When the honey collected is so abundant that the vessels cannot contain it, the bees lengthen, and of course deepen the honey-cells. 1818 J. Keats i. 34 Honey cells, Made delicate from all white-flower bells. 1908 V. L. Kellog 225 She would drink a lot of honey from a honey-cell, and eat a lot of pollen. 2013 A. Morrison v. 69 It is easy to remove the wax cappings from the honey cells only and leave the brood cells sealed. 1882 45 The hungry ant places her mouth to that of the bearer, from whose mouth it is received as it is regurgitated from the honey crop. 1899 D. Sharp in VI. 152 The distension is produced entirely by the overcharging of the honey-crop. 1916 E. Step (rev. ed.) 344 [The bee] comes back a little later with her thighs bulging with masses of pollen and her honey-crop filled with nectar. 1983 C. Little viii. 163/1 Honeybees can afford to use evaporative cooling because they carry large volumes of nectar in their honeycrop. 2001 G. C. McGavin 272 The nectar is sucked up and stored in an anterior region of the gut called the honey crop. the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > apparatus for specific foods 1862 21 Oct. 584/2 The honey-extractor consists of a machine for crushing combs on the principle of a sausage-making machine. 1944 15 60 One more item of equipment is necessary for commercial honey production and that is the honey extractor. 2010 D. Strawbridge & J. Strawbridge (rev. ed.) vi. 213 Secure four frames that have had the caps cut off into a centrifugal honey extractor. the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > secretion of 1881 Feb. 59/2 The best time will be in early spring, just after honey-flow sets in and before the combs are filled with brood. 1904 14 Sept. 4/5 The honey-flow has practically ceased, save where heather abounds. 1955 E. Hillary i. 14 All through the exciting months of the honey-flow, the dream of a bumper crop would drive us on. 2004 July 21/3 Supering, the process of placing honey supers on a colony in preparation for a honey flow. 1875 1 July (Suppl.) 3/1 We have commenced manufacturing a Honey Gate; this differs from the ordinary Molasses Gate, in having a tinned surface all ready to solder into the can. 1919 C. E. Sanborn 17 The honey..can be drawn out through a faucet known as a honey gate. 2009 C. M. Marchese (2011) viii. 108 Place your plastic bucket under the honey gate. a1826 T. L. Beddoes Song in (1935) 71 By the honey golden gem On the queen bee's diadem. 1884 M. Field i. i. 12 She shall..loose the honey-golden locks. 1909 13 Nov. 401/1 Its walls—honey-golden in the sun, richly umber in the shade. 2005 (Nexis) 25 June 16 Then comes the Peking duck, glistening honey-golden slices. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > [noun] > gilding > methods of society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > [noun] > gilding > gilt 1954 S. W. Fisher xii. 97 Other factories with greater resources were able to use the more durable and attractive ‘honey gilding’, as it is called. 1960 R. G. Haggar 207/1 Honey-gilding was a more satisfactory process. 1971 10 June 1416/3 When heavily laid on in broad masses, honey gilding could be further enriched with light and shade patterns by chasing with a finely pointed agate. 2008 G. Ward 248/1 With honey gilding the gold leaf is mashed up with the sticky substance, painted on to the object and fired at a low temperature. the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > nectar or honey-dew > part of plant secreting 1751 J. Hill 887 It is plain that these little Creatures have of all Ages known the Existence of the Nectaria or Honey Glands of Flowers. 1874 J. Lubbock iii. 54 The honey-glands are..situated in pairs at the base of the petals. 1937 71 232 The columbines..may lack the honey gland altogether. 2001 G. C. McGavin 253 Caterpillars..secrete a special fluid containing sugars and amino acids from abdominal ‘honey glands’. 1840 W. G. Simms II. 317 He..squatted on his haunches, with the felicity and grace of a black bear at a honey gum. 1882 Apr. 71/1 Your quincuplexal, duplex..nonswarming, fertilization-in-confinement new honey gum. 1907 T. J. Trusler 75 Once again would I hear that old School's busy hum, Like the buzzing of bees 'round an old honey gum. the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > bee-keeping > [noun] > bee-keeper society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of provisions > sellers of other provisions 1510 J. Stanbridge (new ed.) sig. C.iiv Mellariusq[ue], a hony man. 1608 E. Topsell 70 They [sc. bees]..know the hand and voyce of the hony-man. 1734 May 271/2 William Tappenden, of Cretan Key near Sittenbourn,..Honeyman and Chapman. 1888 Mar. 85/1 The retail grocer and consumer would look to the honey man for their honey. 1917 A. I. Root & E. R. Root 170/1 Alsike..will give a crop of clover honey just when we are most in need of it. One of our leading honeymen said that this fact..has been worth more than $50.00 to him. 2009 (Nexis) 27 June Kiessling..qualified as a honeyman and beekeeper in Germany. the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > mole a1803 Young Benjie xii, in F. J. Child (1886) II. iv. 282/2 ‘O how shall we her ken?’..‘There's a honey-mark on her chin.’ 1943 31 Aug. 3 (advt.) Tomato and basil relish... Honey mustard. Yes..there are many new taste thrills for you in these products from Saw Mills Farms. 1984 J. Rosso & S. Lukins (1985) 262/1 The honey mustard adds a special sharpness. 2010 S. D. Phinney et al. i. iii. 31 Added sugars can be either manufactured or natural, so the honey in honey mustard, for example, is still added sugar. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Apidae (honey-bee) 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas ii. i. 338 Neuer did the..King Of Hunnie-People..Lead to the field..More busie buzzers. 1623 W. Drummond 16 The honnye People leaue their golden Bowres, And innocentlie pray on budding Flowres. c1794 W. Wordsworth Septimi Gades in (1940) I. 297 On gales perfumed by every flower..Thy honey people roves. 1860 J. Harper i. 23 The entomologist delights..to watch the honey people bustling down in the blue bells. 1796 S. T. Coleridge 28 May (1956) I. 218 Apropos of Honey Pie—Caligula or Elogabalus..had a dish of Nightingales' tongues served up—What think you of the Stings of Bees? 1854 A. E. Porter iii. 59 Biddy's honey pie sure you are. 1944 21 Feb. ii. 7/1 Chocolate meringue pie, French apple pie... Honey pie. 2008 (Nexis) 12 Aug. 4 ‘Hello, honey pie,’ he says..and then discusses mundane details of the day. 1776 J. Lee (ed. 3) Explan. Terms 396 Nectarium, Honey-pores, that Part of the Flower bearing Honey. 1839 J. Lindley iv. 38 Petals numerous, small, with a honey pore at the back. 1903 H. J. Chapman (new ed.) 291 The species..are closely allied to Oncidium, differing..by the presence of a honey-pore at the base of the lip. 1986 14 50 A shallow nectar cavity at the base of the lip, Lindley's ‘honey pore’. 1949 10 Apr. 2/3 (advt.) Hot honey roast leg of spring lamb. 1988 J. Cooper ii. 27 He..hastily removed a honey-roast peanut from between his teeth. 2013 (Nexis) 16 Feb. 23 Honey-roast gammon—not bad, salty-sweet, crispy crust. 1913 E. A. W. Budge tr. II. xiii. 263 Honey roasted flax seed. 1983 14 Feb. 36/2 The Eagle line has at least 11 products, including honey-roasted peanuts. 2010 W. G. Boykin & T. Morrisey x. 64 I guess honey-roasted ham is not on the menu? the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > nectar 1632 J. Vicars tr. Virgil 238 He..felt loves honey-rore Soak in. 1860 W. C. Harbison i. 60 The belly..contains, besides the intestines of the insect, the honey sac or bladder, the poison sac and the sting. 1985 W. Longgood 87 The honey sac lies directly on top of the stomach proper, separated by a shutoff valve. 2001 3 Feb. 24 The foraging bee returns to the hive and passes the contents of the honey sac (about 50mg) to the house bees. 1829 J. C. Loudon 459 Ranunculus..Petals 5, rarely 10, with a honey-scale at base. 1869 J. G. Fuller viii. 105 You have omitted one distinguishing feature in your description, Kittie, that is the honey scale. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1136 In the buttercup each petal bears at its base a little honey-scale. the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing agents > [noun] > soap > type of soap > specific 1772 tr. P.-J. Buc'hoz 219 Honey Soap. Take four ounces of White Soap, and as much Honey, [etc.]. 1854 H. Beasley (ed. 3) 231 According to Piesse, the honey soap usually sold consists of fine yellow soap perfumed with oil of citronella. 1911 17 Aug. Honey soap is very softening to the skin. 2005 (Nexis) 19 Sept. He pressed upon me a bar of powerfully scented honey soap. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > bread dish > [noun] > sops > a sop a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 107 My hwny soppis, my sweit possodie. 1542 A. Borde xi. sig. G.iiv Honny soppes & other brothes of what kynde or substaunce soeuer they be made of, they doth ingender ventosyte. 1594 tr. A. Arnauld f. 21v We maruail at the cruelties which they vse in these parts of the world, which are but fleabitinges, or honie soppes rather in comparison of that that they can doe. 1606 34 Ha my sweet honnie sops how doost thou? 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet xxvi. 247 He was very lean, and grew to be exceeding fat by eating hony-sops and sugared Panadoes. 1714 J. Edwards 120 Even Cerberus is appeased with Hony-sops. 1885 3 301 The neighbour gave her honey-sops. 1909 21 433/2 It was like giving Cerberus the honey sop. If the fellow had had a tail he would have wagged it. 2002 W. Matthews tr. Horace ii. i. 55 Some hemlock in a honeysop will ease the old crone into final sleep. the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > mole 1547 W. Salesbury Man geni, Mole, hony spotte. 1826 28 Jan. 50/1 The honey collected by bees undergoes some modification in their honey-stomach before it is regurgitated. 1977 O. W. Richards & R. G. Davies (ed. 10) II. 1191 Among the Aculeata the oesophagus dilates..into a thin-walled crop or honey-stomach. 2010 N. Altman i. i. 22 A honeybee must visit between several hundred to more than one thousand flowers in order to fill her honey stomach. 1803 1 774/2 Information on the science of substitutes... a particular account of acorn-coffee, carrot-brandy, potatoe-bread, turnip-bread, honey-sugar, beet-sugar, sloe-leaf-tea, treacle-beer. 1842 XXIII. 235/1 Honey Sugar contains two kinds of sugar, one resembles grape sugar, and the other is uncrystallizable. 1887 XXII. 623/1 Lowitz's honey sugar is identical with a crystallizable sugar present largely in the juice of the grape. 1957 V. P. Timoshenko & B. C. Swerling i. 8 Some 10 percent of Egypt's [sugar] crop is converted to a syrup known as ‘honey sugar’. 2012 I. S. Hornsey v. 350 Glucose and fructose, the main honey sugars, behave rather differently during the crystallization of honey. the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [noun] > virgin or liquid honey the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > types of wine > [noun] > sweet wine eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 107 Carene, cerenes uel hunigteares. eOE (Royal) (1865) i. ii. 28 Genim cileþonian seawes cuclerfulne, oþerne finoles, þriddan aprotanan seawes, & huniges teares tu cuclermæl. OE Recipe (Wellcome 75.46) in (1890) 84 325 Hwerhwettan moran & ane handfulle sperewyrte & wildne næp & wuduwexan moran wylle on mealtealoþ, wringe þurh linenne claþ, wylle on hunigteare. OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens (1974) 315 Defecati nectaris : ahluttredes hunigteares, purgati suauitatis. OE Hymns (Durh. B.iii.32) lxviib. 3 in I. Milfull (1996) 277 Vincens saporem nectaris : oferswiþende swæcc hunigteare. c1200 ( (Bodl. 730) (Dict. Old Eng. transcript) Fauus, hunister. a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 217 Þenche ȝie ælc word of him swete, al swa an huni tiar felle upe ȝiure hierte. a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris (1868) 1st Ser. 183 Ihesu swete..mi leof..Min huniter. c1390 (Vernon) (1950) 26 Swete Ihesu heuene kyng..myn hele & myn hony-ter. 1481 W. Caxton tr. (1970) 17 He cursed and banned the hony tree. 1640 J. Parkinson xvii. cxxviii. 1648 The Indian Hony tree... In the hollow parts of this tree above other, the Bees doe make their Hony and Wax. 1722 P. Dudley in (Royal Soc.) 31 149 There remains nothing but to find out where the two [bees'] Courses intersect,..for there the Honey-Tree is. 1841 8 20 There is a dozen ‘honey-trees’ to be cut and taken care of. 1926 A. C. Parker 132 He [sc. a bear] might eat all the grubs and discover all the honey trees. 2005 A. L. Tsing v. 181 Binuang (Octomeles sumatrana)..is also a good honey tree. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Aphis > abdominal tube secreting fluid 1806 J. Evans I. 37 The several common species of Orchis, with their variegated purple spikes, spur-shaped honey-tubes, and glossy, spotted leaves. 1829 J. C. Loudon Honey-tube the length of calyx. 1841 T. W. Harris 190 Plant-lice differ very much in form, color, clothing, and in the length of the honey-tubes. 1920 F. C. Pellet 171 Beekeepers know that her tongue is a little too short for the honey tube of the red clover flower. 1941 R. Headstrom liv. 210 At one time it was believed that this fluid was furnished by the so-called honey-tubes, located on the back of the abdomen. 2004 B. V. David & T. N. Ananthakrishnan (ed. 2) ii. lvii. 417 The characteristic feature of an aphid is its pear shaped structure..and a pair of cornicles or ‘honey tubes’ at the posterior end of the abdomen. the world > food and drink > drink > water > [noun] > honey and water 1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig sig. L.iiiv/2 Wasshe it with hony water yt the matter maye come out to the vtermoost membre. 1658 tr. G. della Porta iii. xvii. 98 The bitter pithes of Citrons may be made sweet, if you take the Citron-seeds, and steep them in honey-water. 1792 Ld. Nelson 5 Feb. in (1845) I. 292 To tell her where honey-water is sold in Norwich. 1840 25 Jan. 31/2 When fermented, honey-water obtains the name of mead. 1861 R. Bentley 673 The unfermented juice [of Agave americana] is called Aguamiel or honey-water. 1942 C. Barett iii. 39 ‘Nana’ slipped honey-water from a teaspoon. 1983 X. 332/1 Maguey and its derivatives honey water (aguamiel) and mescal. 2009 P. Laufer xi. 236 Johnson soaks toilet paper with honey water, and the blues suck up the sweet liquid. 1721 N. Amhurst No. 34 Let us now suppose this Honey-Week of Jollity and Drunkenness over; you are admitted into the College. 1765 I. i. 6 The first poor souls that submitted to the yoke; which, by the bye, must have sat very uneasy on them, for, by all accounts theirs was but a honey-week—some say, day. 1833 T. Hook Widow x, in I. 301 The happy couple left town..to pass the honey week—for they had not time to make a moon of it. 1871 J. L. Needham tr. W. Rüstow I. xii. 287 However pleasant things were made by the Chamber for the Ministry during its honeyweek—of a honeymoon we have no right to speak—still even in those days disagreeable scenes occurred. 1994 (Nexis) 14 May b11 Robert and Lotta were married in a little Swedish church... ‘We're calling this our honeyweek,’ said Lotta Bjoor. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > mead > [noun] 1630 J. Smith xv. 27 The Gentlemen have bread and hony-wine. 1764 June 315/2 (heading) A method of making honey-wine... Throw cold water upon honey, in the proportion of a quart of water to a pound of honey [etc.]. 1824 15 Apr. 54/2 In the same manner, cider is..apple wine; and perry and mead, pear and honey wine. 1910 40 481 A hut is set apart for them to live in until the honey wine is ready for drinking (six days). 2008 E. Peterson i. 31 Mead, or honey wine, is the oldest fermented beverage on the planet. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [adjective] > of parts of > having a fleece > of a specific kind 1607 E. Topsell 598 Their best sheep..near the Alpes..are gray or hony-wolled. 1688 R. Holme ii. ix. 175/2 Sheep are generally white, some black, near the Alpes, grey and reddish, and Honey-wooled. (b) In the names of animals that feed on honey or nectar, or that produce honey. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > honey-ant 1854 6 71 The specimens of Honey Ant..were obtained by his brother in the vicinity of Matamoras, Mexico. 1923 9 47 The geographical distribution of the various honey ants seems to point to drought as one of the most important factors in their development. 2004 June 72/2 Hugh, a young and enthusiastic Aborigine, showed us honey ants, cicadas and witchetty grubs. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Mellivora (honey badger) 1812 A. Plumptre tr. H. Lichtenstein I. (App.) Honey Badger. (Gulo mellivorus). 1884 V. 392 The ratels or honey badgers..surpass the skunk in burrowing activity. 1955 G. Cansdale vi. 92 This terrapin seems to have many enemies, including honey badgers, jackals, and eagles. 2012 (Nexis) 6 Oct. (Sport section) 119 It's documented that a honey badger killed a male lion in a one-on-one. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Apidae (honey-bee) the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > making honey > bee that makes ?1483 W. Caxton tr. i. sig. diiv The poure man had in hys gardyn many hony flees or bees. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas i. vii. 251 Prince and People rise, And runne to Schoole among the Hunnie-Flies. a1700 in F. T. Palgrave (1863) 73 The care-burthen'd honey-fly. 1840 183/1 The Common Bee, or Honey-Fly, is an insect of the species of the fly with four wings. 1905 E. Step (new ed.) II. 76 The style lies so close upon the sepal that bees cannot get in; but the long-tongued Honey-fly (Rhingia rostrata) can, and does. 1973 J. Weightman & D. Weightman tr. C. Lévi-Strauss 294 The latter's body has changed into rottenness, which is giving off flies (‘meat flies’, not ‘honey flies’). 2003 Sept. 37/2 Cluster flies are also called buckwheat flies or honey flies. You crush them and they give off a buckwheat-honey scent. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > honey-ant > honey-holder 1894 27 Feb. 1/3 The specialised honey-holders are fed by the workers till they can contain no more without danger of an explosion. 1914 V. L. Kellogg (ed. 3) xv. 547 A sweetish sticky liquid..is brought in by the foraging workers and fed to the sedentary honey holders. 1933 C. E. Waterman 57 A specially formed worker, which is termed a honey-holder. the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > pernis apivorus (honey-buzzard) 1881 791 I am by no means certain that the Honey-Kite from the Indo-Malayan islands is not a different species from the bird inhabiting the Indian Peninsular. 1909 18 Jan. 18/4 The honey buzzard—or honey kite, as Dr. Bowdler Sharpe prefers to call it—has been known as a nesting species in England since the days of Willoughby. 2002 B. Grewal et al. 475 Pernis ptilorhyncus (Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Honey Buzzard, Crested Honey Buzzard, Honey Kite). the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tineidae > member of genus Galleria (honey-moth) 1798 J. Ebers II. 207/1 Honiglecker, der, a Honey-Moth or Tiny. 1855 M. Gatty 23 The mischievous honey-moth has laid her eggs in our combs. 1913 21 174 Mr. Grossbeck exhibited specimens of..the wax moth or honey moth. 1996 T. Scott tr. F. W. Stöcker & L. G. Dietrich 1263/2 The Honey moth or Lesser wax moth..occurs worldwide. the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phalangeridae (phalanger) > genus Tarsipes (honey possum) 1923 3 148 The Tarsipes are known throughout the district as ‘Honey Mice’, which is such an excellent vernacular name, when one considers the habits detailed later on, that I venture to submit it for general use. 1963 IV. 58 The arboreal marsupials..include the specialized leaf-eating Koala, the long-snouted Honey Mouse, [etc.]. 2007 S. A. King (new ed.) 48 Also known as the Honey Mouse, the Honey Possum is neither a Mouse nor a Possum. 1851 20 506 Specimens of the Honey Parrot, and of the old and young male and female of the Satin Bower Bird. 1934 9 Aug. (Junior Argus Suppl.) 4/1 The sharp eye of a roving honey-parrot had caught the message of the almond flowers. 1998 T. Rost et al. xiii. 209 Honeyeaters and honeycreepers on Pacific islands, and honey parrots or lorikeets in Australia. the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phalangeridae (phalanger) > genus Tarsipes (honey possum) 1938 19 401 The quaint honey possum (Tarsipes) is only obtained there [sc. south western Australia]. 1970 30 Dec. 24 (caption) The Fitzgerald River Reserve, which..protects many small marsupials such as the honey possum. 2005 R. M. Nowak 194/2 Like some bats and hummingbirds, the honey possum is well adapted for probing into flowers and licking up its food. (c) In the names of plants reminiscent of honey in some way, esp. in terms of the sweetness or scent of their nectar or fruit, or their attractiveness to bees. See also honey apple n. 2, honeysuckle n. and adj., honeywort n.the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > harmful or parasitic fungi > [noun] > causing disease in plants > honey-fungus 1788 R. Relhan 21 Honey Agaric. Woods, and Plantations. 1894 W. Somerville & H. M. Ward tr. R. Hartig i. 207 Agaricus melleus. The Honey Agaric. This fungus belongs to the most widely distributed and destructive of parasites. 1945 M. C. Rayner ii. 35 The Honey Agaric forms its sporophores only after the tissues in which it grows have been killed. 2012 S. M. Govorushko v. 237/2 The real honey agaric (Armillaria mellea) is better known as an edible mushroom. 1861 L. H. Grindon 97 [Melittis] Melissophyllum..Common Honey-balm. 1928 A. J. Macself (rev. ed.) 218 (heading) Mellitis [sic] (Bastard or Honey-Balm). 1988 J. G. Nichols tr. G. d'Annunzio 27 Your hand, stained by crushed leaves of honey-balm, reached over and unloosed the unwanted queen. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > tropical exotic fruit > banana > types of 1877 P. L. Simmonds §vi. 463 The Fig... resembles the honey banana of Jamaica. 1921 2 July 8/8 Home consumption delicacies, like the honey banana, the emerald-gem muskmelon and the fall pippin apple. 2009 R. Dharmaraj 15 He brought him gifts: honey bananas, those small red bunches that grow only in the Nilgiris Hills, or yellow guavas. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > other berries 1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. I. 256 Melicocca... Honey-Berry. 1882 J. Smith Honey-berry of Guiana..where it forms large forests. 1914 (Royal Bot. Gardens, Kew) 348 The berries are eaten in Spain and in Greece are known as Honey berries. 1996 51 Southern Nettle-Tree.., Lote Tree, Honeyberry. An elegant small or medium-sized, fast-growing tree with graceful, nettle-shaped leaves. 2011 (Nexis) 5 Mar. d4 Haskap, also known as blue honeysuckle, honeyberry or honeysuckle. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > gooseberry 1746 H. Walpole (1820) I. 144 He stopped..to buy honey-blobs, as the Scotch call gooseberries. 1854 W. M. Thackeray I. xxiii. 222 Confessing..that she preferred it to the rasps and hinnyblobs in her grandmamma's garden. 1898 A. M. Earle (1899) xvii. 422 At the lower ends of the flower borders were rows of ‘honey-blob’ gooseberries. 1901 A. M. Earle 338 There were rows of bushes of golden ‘Honey-blob’ Gooseberries. 1828 C. S. Rafinesque I. 49 Apocynum androsemifolium... Milk-weed, Bitter-root, Honey-bloom, [etc.]. 1906 A. Lounsberry xxvi. 169 It's called Honey Bloom by some people and Bitter Bloom by others who believe it's poisonous to dogs. 2003 J. Sanders 266 Dogbane is also known by a host of other names, including flytrap, catchfly, honey-bloom, [etc.]. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > heather or heath and similar plants > [noun] the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > heather or heath and similar plants > [noun] > bloom of 1868 J. T. Burgess 172 On the heath we shall find many a curious trefoil and honey bottle. 1880 R. Jefferies 6 Wild moor-like lands, beautiful with heaths and honey-bottle. 1984 D. J. Bellamy 146/2 Cross-leaved heath... Also known as Bog Heather and Honey Bottle it likes to grow in wetter places. 1881 J. M. Nickell 38 Ceratonia siliqua..Carob Tree. Honey Bread. Husks of the Ancients. 1909 H. A. Hare et al. (ed. 2) 907 Honey-bread..is the dried fruit of Ceratonia Siliqua L., a good-sized tree, native of the Mediterranean region. 2002 M. Van Atta v. 58 Carob trees have been growing wild for centuries in the Middle East and are known there as..Honey Bread, Algarroba, and Caroubier. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > cherry > types of cherry a1671 F. Drope (1672) x. 14 The English Cherry called the Hony-cherry is the stock whereon the earlyest May's do grow. 1757 A. Cooper iii. lii. 221 The black Heart Cherry, the common red Cherry, the black Cherry, the Merry or Honey Cherry. 1832 21 July 225/2 In selecting varieties for planting for common nursery purposes, the Mazard or Honey cherry are to be preferred. 1915 U. P. Hedrick 60 Honey Cherry..small sweet cherry. 1877 F. von Müller 15 The Honey-Eucalypt (Eucalyptus melliodora). This tree passes by the very unapt vernacular name Yellow Box-tree. 1914 1 Aug. 12/3 The programme included evening lectures by departmental officers, Honey Eucalypts being dealt with by Mr. A. D. Hardy. the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > harmful or parasitic fungi > [noun] > causing disease in plants > honey-fungus 1893 J. Nisbet tr. H. Fürst ii. i. 75 The common edible Mushroom or Honey-fungus..is also a very common, and in many places a very dangerous parasite in young crops of conifers. 1962 27 Jan. 25/1 The honey fungus, Armillaria mellea, produces thick black threads or rhizomorphs somewhat similar to black leather laces. 2012 (Nexis) 21 Oct. 17 Watch out for the tight cluster of honey fungus toadstools that appear this month, indicating dead woody plants and stumps nearby that are feeding the infection. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Liliaceae family or plants > [noun] > allium plants 1848 J. M. Wilson II. 82/2 Honey-garlic,..is nearly allied to the onion or true garlic genus. 1905 C. L. Allen 244 Honey Garlic... This pretty little bulb is a native of Sicily. 2010 (Nexis) 9 May 25 The green-flowered Sicilian honey garlic has curiously coloured flowers, which in the subspecies bulgaricum is overlaid with a dusky grey-mauve. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > gleditschia or honey locust 1709 J. Lawson 106 The Honey-Locust would be the fittest for Hedges; because it is very apt to shoot forth many Sprouts and Succours from the Roots. 1814 H. M. Brackenridge ii. ii. 104 Beautiful woods of tall oak, walnut, mulberry, sassafras, honey locust. 1884 C. S. Sargent 250 (table) Prosopis juliflora... Mesquit. Algaroba. Honey Locust. Honey Pod... Mexican boundary. 1903 C. H. Snow 76 Mesquite, also called honey locust, affords wood that is hard, heavy, and almost indestructible in exposed positions. 1991 J. Chang (1993) xiv. 351 She never used shampoo from the shops.., but would boil the fruit of the Chinese honey locust and use the liquid from that. 2011 S. Levy 28 On a hectic street outside Robinson's laboratory in the Bronx grows a honey locust tree. 1778 J. Abercrombie Index sig. 7A2 Lotus, honey... Trifolium. 1824 W. Stevenson XVIII. iii. The honey-lotus, the lotus, or nymphæa of Egypt. 1839 XV. 80/2 The Melilotus or Honey-lotus of botanists, so called from its smell, is a tall yellow-flowered annual. 1908 A. I. Root & E. R. Root (rev. ed.) 274 Melilot (Melilotus alba), or honey lotus. 1994 24 June (Neighbor section) 2/2 Drought-tolerant trees include green ash, honey lotus and oaks. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > eating-apple > types of 1611 R. Cotgrave Pomme de paradis, an excellent sweet apple..some also call so our Honnymeale, or S. Johns apple. 1766 H. Stevenson (ed. 7) 26 The Names of the best Sorts of Apples, and the Time when ripe, and Duration, are,..Lordings, Pearmains, Honey-meal..October and November. 1933 1 Nov. 15/5 Ladies' Longing, Mayflower, Belle-et-bonne, Winter Russeting, and Honeymeal are all delightful [names]. 1879 May 144/2 The honey mesquite is one of the principal forest trees of Texas. 1950 E. C. Jaeger xxxii. 197 A thicket of honey mesquite and quail brush. 2011 (Nexis) 18 Sept. 2 j Honey mesquite is a multitrunk, picturesque tree with wide-spreading branches with spines at the base of the leaves. the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > harmful or parasitic fungi > [noun] > causing disease in plants > honey-fungus 1706 tr. P. M. de la Martinière xx. 200 The Smotzskies or Honey-Mushrooms..are excellent and very dear in Russia. 1896 i. 185 The Honey Mushroom is given in the reports of Dr. Taylor as edible. 1938 J. S. Boyce vi. 110 Armillaria mellea..known as the honey mushroom, causes this disease. 2010 G. Marley xvi. 190 Wood colonized by honey mushroom mycelia occasionally exhibits bioluminescence. 1912 C. H. Souter in 24 Aug. 4/5 The honey myrtle's comin' out The back of Thompson's farm. 1978 30 Aug. 74/2 The scarlet honey myrtle, M. fulgens, a little over 1m high, has bright red brushes with gold-tipped stamens. 2011 S. Pickering viii. 76 Along the rough edge of the ridge near the ocean grew hedges of honey myrtle. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of a1400 MS Rawl. C.814 in D. A. Trotter (2000) 138 Pernez..re [read þe] rode de honi-pere-tre. 1511 in J. B. Paul (1902) IV. 309 To ane frutt sellar... for hony peris. 1629 J. Parkinson 593 The Hony peare is a long greene Summer peare. 1790 D. Morison 127 How Indian Queens forsooth, at ilka ear, Wear lumps o' gowd as big's a honey pear. 1866 S. E. Todd (rev. ed.) ii. 155 Honey Pear, American Honey. This Pear in size and shape resembles the Seckel. 1911 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 204 27 Then there is the ‘Mi li’ or honey pear, a local variety growing in the Pangshan district, Chihli Province, northern China. 1996 W. P. Winchester vi. 110 I am limited to the resistant varieties, Delicious and Orient,..and the Seckel (also known as the Honey Pear). 1787 T. Jefferson Let. 7 Feb. in (1955) XI. 121 Gleditsia triacanthos. Honey pod locust. 1859 T. J. Page viii. 130 The Algorroba, one of the mimosæ, produces a fruit similar in taste (though smaller) to our honey-pod. 1870 Feb. 45/1 The Colorado District is characterized by the presence of the giant cacti,..the honey pod, Algarobia glandulosa, [etc.]. 1921 11 166 Mesquit bean. Honey pod. Algarroba.—The fruit of Prosopis juliflora. 1958 Aug. 461/2 An old slave auction block which stood beneath a honey-pod tree. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > clover or trefoil > stalks or flowers of 1594 W. Shakespeare iv. iv. 91 Words more sweete and yet more dangerous Then baites to fish, or honniestalkes to sheepe. View more context for this quotation 1765 S. Johnson VI. 345/1 Honey-stalks are clover flowers, which contain a sweet juice. It is common for cattle to overcharge themselves with clover, and die. 1883 H. Friend I. ix. 289 It is generally supposed that the Honeystalks on which the sheep delight to feed are Clover flowers. 1914 F. W. Stack §iv. 267 The White Clover... In England it is known as Sheep's Gowan, Honey Stalks and sometimes Shamrock. 2010 S. Ruhl i. xiii. 37 Who among you has never dreamed of flying, of skimming the honey-stalks with your noses? the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > edible seaweeds 1827 23 Several species have been employed by man as food, as, for example,..L[aminaria] esculenta (honey ware). 1933 J. Gray 34 He never said onything aboot tangles, hinniwirs, an' dills. 2001 (Nexis) 8 Dec. 17 Tang and ware come in many forms—bow-tang, paddy-tang,..honey-ware, hen-ware. 1750 G. Hughes Index Honey Wood. 1898 E. E. Morris 123/2 In Tasmania, Bedfordia salicina..is also called Honeywood. 1969 H. J. King & T. E. Burns 58 This tree [sc. Bedfordia salicina] is known also as Honey-wood, Dogwood, and Native Willow. C2. Compounds of the adjective. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [noun] ?1406 T. Hoccleve La Mâle Règle l. 221 in E. P. Hammond (1927) 63/1 (MED) His hony wordes, wrappid in errour, Blyndly conceyued been, the more harm is! ?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve (Royal 17 D.vi) (1860) 182 Many an hony worde. 1595 R. Barnfield Cassandra xxi, in sig. D6 Scarce were these honywords breath'd from her lips. 1610 A. P. tr. F. Herring xvii. sig. A7v Men receiue with gaping greedinesse, The hony words that this false Sinon spake. 1628 Z. Boyd viii. 1187 Gods hony word of vnspeakable sweetnesse was vinegar to his teeth. 1754 5 The Orator did so harangue, So sooth in soft and winning Twang; His Honey Words, we all did lick up. 1818 J. Keats iii. 125 Tears, and smiles, and honey-words. 1896 21 Mar. 6/4 Conn passed by with a smile and a honey-word. 1915 C. M. Stevens xii. 172 The chucking under the chin with the honey words was more than he could be expected to endure. 2011 (Nexis) 11 May 10 The 29 year-old has not been sated by success, money,..or honey-words of praise. Derivatives the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > honey > [adjective] 1566 T. Becon ii. f. 66v Honylyke and mete to deceaue are these wordes. 1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré xxi. xxxvi. 808 This stone..is sometimes of a sanguine colour, and otherwhiles of a hony-like or yellowish colour. 1753 W. Lewis 145/1 The fresh berries yield, on expression, a rich, sweet, honey-like, aromatic juice. 1837 IX. 18 After the blossom unfolds it perspires a sweet honey-like fluid. 1955 F. G. Ashbrook xiv.296 Continue stirring until a thin honey-like texture is obtained. 2003 Oct. 45 (caption) The orchid Disa fragans..fills the mountain air with its honey-like smell. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022). honeyv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: honey n. Etymology: < honey n. Compare honeyed adj. the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > sweetness > sweeten [verb (transitive)] > sweeten with honey the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > sweetening > sweeten [verb (transitive)] > with honey the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)] > make pleasant c1390 (?c1350) St. Augustine l. 496 in C. Horstmann (1878) 70 Wiþ hony of heuene ihonied swete. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 160v (MED) I gif it in puluer with water of barly honied or made swete wiþ hony. c1450 J. Lydgate (Sloane 2464) l. 882 Sugryd galle honyed with Collusyoun. 1509 H. Watson tr. S. Brant (de Worde) l. sig. M.v They haue theyr tongues honyed with swete wordes vnder the coloure of loue. 1622 T. Scott 49 The brimme whereof shee hath cunningly hunnied with faire pretences of seeming pietie. 1645 S. Rutherford xv. 122 The law of God, honeyed with the love of Christ. 1655 E. Calamy 26 They honied over the poison of their Doctrine, with good words, and faire speeches. 1770 P. Stockdale tr. T. Tasso i. 32 That artful Mopsus, Whose tongue is honeyed with endearing words. 1774 D. Rasbotham iv. 56 Instilling flatt'ries, pleasing to the ear, As deadliest poison honey'd to the palate. 1837 26 Aug. 609/2 If we do not wish to be slaves forever, we must no longer deceive ourselves and others by honeying affairs over with sweet words. 1880 M. Hogan (new ed.) 371 The scent of the wild thyme,..Honied the airs of the midsummer-lea. 1891 30 Oct. 4/5 Never were political bosses honeying their words and actions as they have been compelled to do in this campaign. 1913 A. H. Adams 120 Time shall have honeyed all those memories. 1965 20 May 61 The pressure of honeying her voice and becoming the star she is has constantly eaten into her recreation time. 2007 C. Townend xv. 215 Matty's breath was honeyed with mead. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > use specific terms of endearment to [verb (transitive)] 1602 J. Marston i. i. sig. A4 Canst thou not hony me with fluent speach? a1607 H. Chettle (1631) sig. D3v If he be no worse; that is doe worse, And hony me in my death-stinging thoughts. 1675 L. W. 1/2 A Foot-boy..gave me a Crown for to call him my Ioy, I lov'd him and joy'd him and honey'd him so That it cost him an Angel. 1905 25 Dec. 6/4 ‘Now, honey—’ ‘Don't honey me! Please call me by my proper name.’ 1957 J. McLiam 57 Don't honey me, Fatso! 1995 (Nexis) 18 Apr. d6 He was still reeling from laughter at how a couple he knew were honeying and darlinging each other to death. the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > use honeyed or endearing words [verb (intransitive)] 1604 W. Shakespeare iii. iv. 83 Honying, and making loue Ouer the nasty stie. View more context for this quotation 1847 Ld. Tennyson Prol. 6 One Discuss'd his tutor, rough to common men But honeying at the whisper of a lord. 1884 Ld. Tennyson Prol. 23 The King came honeying about her. 1899 B. Tarkington iii. 42 When my shavers come honeyin' up..you can rely either Christmas or show-day's mighty close. 1929 Nov. 74/2 She can't make him do whatever she wants him to any more, either by jawing him or honeying around. 1954 E. Ogilvie iii. 22 Where's Terence tonight? I thought he'd be right here honeying around the schoolma'am. 2010 H. B. Reid iv. 19 Most of his cronies landed jobs with K Street lobby firms and were now honeying up to him. the mind > emotion > pleasure > quality of being pleasant or pleasurable > please or give pleasure to [verb (transitive)] the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > persuasive flattery or cajolery > cajole [verb (transitive)] 1604 J. Marston iii. iii. sig. E3v O vnpeerable inuension, rare, Thou God of pollicie! it hunnies me. 1609 G. Markham sig. D I had an vsuall garbe of sweete commerce, Which honied all, with whom I did conuerse. a1652 R. Brome Queen & Concubine iv. v. 92 in (1659) She's honied with the newes. 1779 R. Jephson i. v. 11 You sooth where you approve not, and look gall, When sweet content honies your appetites. 1893 J. W. Hoff iii. 44 The Quartermaster..had honeyed her into getting ready for us. 1926 Aug. 5/3 The commanding officer..is an old friend of Dad's, and by honeying everybody up—. 1963 B. Modisane xii. 181 I will not be honeyed with snippets about life in the Hereafter. 1998 (Nexis) 25 Oct. 12 He has no interest in persuading, coaxing, honeying the reader along. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  n.adj.eOE v.c1390 |
