Adjacent Words

Honey definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HON'EY, n. hun'y.
1. A sweet vegetable juice, collected by bees from the flowers of plants, and deposited in cells of the comb in hives. Honey, when pure, is of a moderate consistence, of a whitish color,tinged with yellow,sweet to the taste, of an agreeable smell, soluble in water, and becoming vinous by fermentation. In medicine, it is useful as a detergent and aperient. It is supposed to consist of sugar, mucilage, and an acid.
2. Sweetness; lusciousness.
The king hath found
Matter against him, that forever mars
The honey of his language.
3. A word of tenderness; sweetness; sweet one.
HON'EY, v.t. To talk fondly. [Little used.]
1. To sweeten.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of something having the color of honey n
1: a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
2: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment [syn: beloved, dear, dearest, honey, love] v
1: sweeten with honey

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural honeys) Etymology: Middle English hony, from Old English hunig; akin to Old High German honag honey, and probably to Sanskrit k?ńcana gold, Latin canicae bran Date: before 12th century 1. a. a sweet viscid material elaborated out of the nectar of flowers in the honey sac of various bees b. a sweet fluid resembling honey that is collected or elaborated by various insects 2. a. a loved one ; sweetheart, dear b. a superlative example 3. the quality or state of being sweet ; sweetness 4. an attractive woman II. verb (honeyed; also honied; honeying) Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to sweeten with or as if with honey 2. to speak ingratiatingly to ; flatter intransitive verb to use blandishments or cajolery III. adjective Date: 14th century 1. of, relating to, or resembling honey 2. much loved ; dear

Britannica Concise

Sweet, viscous liquid food, dark golden in color, produced in the honey sacs of various bees from the nectar of flowers. Honey has played an enormous role in human nutrition since ancient times; until about 250 years ago, it was almost the sole sweetening agent. Commercial honeys are often produced from clover by the domestic honeybee. The nectar is ripened into honey by inversion of most of its sucrose into the sugars levulose (fructose) and dextrose (glucose) and the removal of excess moisture. Honey is stored in the beehive or nest in a honeycomb, a double layer of uniform hexagonal cells constructed of beeswax and propolis (a plant resin). The honey and comb are used in winter as food for the bee larvae and other members of the colony. Honey extracted for human consumption is usually heated to destroy fermentation-causing yeasts and then strained. See also beekeeping.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -eys) 1 a sweet sticky yellowish fluid made by bees and other insects from nectar collected from flowers. 2 the colour of this. 3 a sweetness. b a sweet thing. 4 a person or thing excellent of its kind. 5 esp. US (usu. as a form of address) darling, sweetheart. Phrases and idioms: honey-badger a ratel. honey-bee any of various bees of the genus Apis, esp. the common hive-bee (A. mellifera). honey-bun (or -bunch) (esp. as a form of address) darling. honey-buzzard any bird of prey of the genus Pernis feeding on the larvae of bees and wasps. honey-eater any Australasian bird of the family Meliphagidae with a long tongue that can take nectar from flowers. honey-fungus a parasitic fungus, Armillaria mellea, with honey-coloured edible toadstools. honey-guide 1 any small bird of the family Indicatoridae which feeds on beeswax and insects. 2 a marking on the corolla of a flower thought to guide bees to nectar. honey-parrot a lorikeet. honey-pot 1 a pot for honey. 2 a posture with the hands clasped under the hams. 3 something very attractive or tempting. honey sac an enlarged part of a bee's gullet where honey is formed. honey-sweet sweet as honey. Etymology: OE hunig f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Honey Hon"ey, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Honeyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Honeying.] To be gentle, agreeable, or coaxing; to talk fondly; to use endearments; also, to be or become obsequiously courteous or complimentary; to fawn. ``Honeying and making love.'' --Shak. Rough to common men, But honey at the whisper of a lord. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Honey Hon"ey, v. t. To make agreeable; to cover or sweeten with, or as with, honey. Canst thou not honey me with fluent speech? --Marston.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Honey Hon"ey, n. [OE. honi, huni, AS. hunig; akin to OS. honeg, D. & G. honig, OHG. honag, honang, Icel. hunang, Sw. h[*a]ning, Dan. honning, cf. Gr. ? dust, Skr. kaa grain.] 1. A sweet viscid fluid, esp. that collected by bees from flowers of plants, and deposited in the cells of the honeycomb. 2. That which is sweet or pleasant, like honey. The honey of his language. --Shak. 3. Sweet one; -- a term of endearment. --Chaucer. Honey, you shall be well desired in Cyprus. --Shak. Note: Honey is often used adjectively or as the first part of compound; as, honeydew or honey dew; honey guide or honeyguide; honey locust or honey-locust. Honey ant (Zo["o]l.), a small ant (Myrmecocystus melliger), found in the Southwestern United States, and in Mexico, living in subterranean formicares. There are larger and smaller ordinary workers, and others, which serve as receptacles or cells for the storage of honey, their abdomens becoming distended to the size of a currant. These, in times of scarcity, regurgitate the honey and feed the rest. Honey badger (Zo["o]l.), the ratel. Honey bear. (Zo["o]l.) See Kinkajou. Honey buzzard (Zo["o]l.), a bird related to the kites, of the genus Pernis. The European species is P. apivorus; the Indian or crested honey buzzard is P. ptilorhyncha. They feed upon honey and the larv[ae] of bees. Called also bee hawk, bee kite. Honey creeper (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of small, bright, colored, passerine birds of the family C[oe]rebid[ae], abundant in Central and South America. Honey easter (Zo["o]l.), one of numerous species of small passerine birds of the family Meliphagid[ae], abundant in Australia and Oceania; -- called also honeysucker. Honey flower (Bot.), an evergreen shrub of the genus Melianthus, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The flowers yield much honey. Honey guide (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of small birds of the family Indicatorid[ae], inhabiting Africa and the East Indies. They have the habit of leading persons to the nests to wild bees. Called also honeybird, and indicator. Honey harvest, the gathering of honey from hives, or the honey which is gathered. --Dryden. Honey kite. (Zo["o]l.) See Honey buzzard (above). Honey locust (Bot.), a North American tree (Gleditschia triacanthos), armed with thorns, and having long pods with a sweet pulp between the seeds. Honey month. Same as Honeymoon. Honey weasel (Zo["o]l.), the ratel.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(honeys) 1. Honey is a sweet, sticky, yellowish substance that is made by bees. N-VAR 2. You call someone honey as a sign of affection. (mainly AM) Honey, I don't really think that's a good idea. N-VOC

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Heb. ya'ar, occurs only 1 Sam. 14:25, 27, 29; Cant. 5:1, where it denotes the honey of bees. Properly the word signifies a forest or copse, and refers to honey found in woods.

(2.) Nopheth, honey that drops (Ps. 19:10; Prov. 5:3; Cant. 4:11).

(3.) Debash denotes bee-honey (Judg. 14:8); but also frequently a vegetable honey distilled from trees (Gen. 43:11; Ezek. 27:17). In these passages it may probably mean "dibs," or syrup of grapes, i.e., the juice of ripe grapes boiled down to one-third of its bulk.

(4.) Tsuph, the cells of the honey-comb full of honey (Prov. 16:24; Ps. 19:10).

(5.) "Wild honey" (Matt. 3:4) may have been the vegetable honey distilled from trees, but rather was honey stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deut. 32:13; Ps. 81:16; 1 Sam. 14:25-29).

Canaan was a "land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3:8). Milk and honey were among the chief dainties in the earlier ages, as they are now among the Bedawin; and butter and honey are also mentioned among articles of food (Isa. 7:15). The ancients used honey instead of sugar (Ps. 119:103; Prov. 24:13); but when taken in great quantities it caused nausea, a fact referred to in Prov. 25:16, 17 to inculcate moderation in pleasures. Honey and milk also are put for sweet discourse (Cant. 4:11).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hun'-i (debhash; meli): One familiar with life in Palestine will recognize in debhash the Arabic dibs, which is the usual term for a sweet syrup made by boiling down the juice of grapes, raisins, carob beans, or dates. Dibs is seldom, if ever, used as a name for honey (compare Arabic 'asal), whereas in the Old Testament debhash probably had only that meaning. The honey referred to was in most cases wild honey (De 32:13; Jud 14:8,9; 1Sa 14:25,26,29,43), although the offering of honey with the first-fruits would seem to indicate that the bees were also domesticated (2Ch 31:5). The bees constructed their honeycomb and deposited their honey in holes in the ground (1Sa 14:25); under rocks or in crevices between the rocks (De 32:13; Ps 81:16). They do the same today. When domesticated they are kept in cylindrical basket hives which are plastered on the outside with mud. The Syrian bee is an especially hardy type and a good honey producer. It is carried to Europe and America for breeding purposes.

In Old Testament times, as at present, honey was rare enough to be considered a luxury (Ge 43:11; 1Ki 14:3). Honey was used in baking sweets (Ex 16:31). It was forbidden to be offered with the meal offering (Le 2:11), perhaps because it was fermentable, but was presented with the fruit offering (2Ch 31:5). Honey was offered to David's army (2Sa 17:29). It was sometimes stored in the fields (Jer 41:8). It was also exchanged as merchandise (Eze 27:17). In New Testament times wild honey was an article of food among the lowly (Mt 3:4; Mr 1:6).

Figurative: "A land flowing with milk and honey" suggested a land filled with abundance of good things (Ex 3:8,17; Le 20:24; Nu 13:27; De 6:3; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5; Eze 20:6,15). "A land of olive trees and honey" had the same meaning (De 8:8; 2Ki 18:32), and similarly "streams of honey and butter" (Job 20:17). Honey was a standard of sweetness (So 4:11; Eze 3:3; Re 10:9,10). It typified sumptuous fare (So 5:1; Isa 7:15,22; Eze 16:13,19). The ordinances of Yahweh were "sweeter than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb" (Ps 19:10; 119:103). "Thou didst eat .... honey" (Eze 16:13) expressed Yahweh's goodness to Jerusalem.

James A. Patch

Moby Thesaurus

Jell-O, ace, ambrosia, angel, artificial sweetener, babe, baby, baby-doll, beaut, beloved, blackstrap, blancmange, blarney, butter, butter up, buttercup, calcium cyclamate, candy, cane syrup, captive, catch, cherub, chick, chickabiddy, clover honey, comb honey, comfit, compote, confection, confectionery, confiture, conquest, conserve, coquette, corker, corn syrup, crackerjack, cyclamates, daisy, dandy, darb, darling, date, dear, deary, dilly, doll, dream, duck, duckling, dulcify, edulcorate, edulcoration, flame, flirt, frosting, gelatin, get around, glaze, heartthrob, hon, honey bunch, honey child, honeycomb, honeydew, honeypot, humdinger, icing, inamorata, jam, jelly, jolly, kid along, killer-diller, knockout, ladylove, lamb, lambkin, lay it on, lollapaloosa, love, lover, lulu, maple syrup, marmalade, meringue, molasses, mousse, mull, nectar, oil, overdo it, peach, pet, petkins, pip, pippin, play up to, precious, precious heart, preserve, saccharification, saccharify, saccharin, snookums, soap, sodium cyclamate, soft-soap, soften up, sorghum, steady, string along, stroke, sugar, sugar off, sugar-making, sugarcoat, sugaring off, sweet, sweet patootie, sweet stuff, sweeten, sweetener, sweetening, sweetheart, sweetie, sweetkins, sweetmeat, sweets, syrup, the nuts, treacle, truelove, tutti-frutti, vamp, vampire, whipped cream, whiz