buzz
pronunciation
How to pronounce buzz in British English:
UK [bʌz]
How to pronounce buzz in American English:
US [bʌz]
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- Noun:
- sound of rapid vibration
- a confusion of activity and gossip
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- Verb:
- make a buzzing sound
- fly low
- be noisy with activity
- call with a buzzer
Word Origin
- buzz (v.)
- late 15c., echoic of bees and other insects. Aviation sense of "fly low and close" is by 1941 (see buzz (n.)). Related: Buzzed; buzzing. Buzz off (1914) originally meant "to ring off on the telephone," from the use of buzzers to signal a call or message on old systems. As a command, it originally would have been telling someone to get off the line.
- buzz (n.)
- "a busy rumour" [Rowe], 1620s (earlier "a fancy," c. 1600), figurative use from buzz (v.). Literal sense of "humming sound" is from 1640s. A "buzz" was the characteristic sound of an airplane in early 20c.; hence verbal sense "to fly swiftly," by 1928; by 1940 especially in military use, "to fly low over a surface as a warning signal" (for example that target practice is about to begin): The patrol aircraft shall employ the method of warning known as "buzzing" which consists of low flight by the airplane and repeated opening and closing of the throttle. [1941 Supplement to the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America," Chap. II, Corps of Engineers, War Department, p. 3434, etc. ] Meaning "pleasant sense of intoxication" first recorded 1935. The children's game of counting off with 7 or multiples of it replaced by buzz is attested from 1864 and is mentioned in "Little Women" (1868). To give (someone) a buzz (by 1922) is from the buzz that announced a call on old telephone systems.
Example
- 1. It was the buzz heard round the world .
- 2. Drones : in gaza , they are called zananas , meaning a bee 's buzz .
- 3. And I 've been getting a weird buzz off the ox for quite some time now .
- 4. All the buzz is over rice , which has risen fivefold in six years .
- 5. If further research can identify these compounds , it could lead to the development of repellents to make bloodthirsty mosquitoes buzz off .