honeycomb
English
Etymology
From Middle English hony combe, from Old English huniġcamb; equivalent to honey + comb. The Oxford English Dictionary (s.v. "honeycomb") suggests that the arrangement of plates of wax (with honey) "hanging parallel to each other from the roof of the hive suggests a comb with its teeth".
Noun
honeycomb (plural honeycombs)
- A structure of hexagonal cells made by bees primarily of wax, to hold their larvae and for storing the honey to feed the larvae and to feed themselves during winter.
- Any structure resembling a honeycomb.
- The wood porch was a honeycomb of termite tunnels before we replaced it.
- 1797 Adams, John, (Letter from John Adams to Uriah Forrest, June 20, 1797), compiled in Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, at https://web.archive.org/web/20080902041145/http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Notable_Comments_on_Jefferson_%28Contemporary%29
- [there is in Jefferson]...evidence of a mind soured, yet seeking for popularity, and eaten to a honeycomb with ambition....
- (construction) voids left in concrete resulting from failure of the mortar to effectively fill the spaces among coarse aggregate particles.
- (aviation) Manufactured material used manufacture light, stiff structural components using a sandwich design.
- (solar cell) The texture of the surface of a solar cell, intended to increase its surface area and capture more sunlight.
- (geometry) A space-filling packing of polytopes in 3- or higher-dimensional space.
Derived terms
Translations
structure of cells made by bees
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any similar structure
Verb
honeycomb (third-person singular simple present honeycombs, present participle honeycombing, simple past and past participle honeycombed)
See also
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