buzz

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See also: Buzz

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English *bussen, of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: bŭz, IPA(key): /bʌz/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: buzz
  • Rhymes: -ʌz

Noun

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buzz (countable and uncountable, plural buzzes)

The buzz of an electronic alarm clock
  1. A continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
  2. A whisper.
  3. The audible friction of voiced consonants.
  4. (informal) A rush or feeling of energy or excitement; a feeling of slight intoxication.
    Still feeling the buzz from the coffee, he pushed through the last of the homework.
  5. (informal) A telephone call or e-mail.
    • 1983 April 9, “Clearly Womyn's Space (classified advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 15:
      Now, don't waste time, give us a buzz -- quick! 825-4703 or 265-7881.
  6. (informal) Major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes.
    • 1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Cher (Alicia Silverstone):
      Mr. Hall? The buzz on Christian is that his parents have joint custody, so he'll be spending one semester in Chicago and one semester here.
    • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 103:
      I wasn't performing with Pimp and Smoove that much no more, but I had a solo deal with Ruthless Rap and a brand new mixtape that was creating a big buzz.
    • 2006 September 6, Daren Fonda, “Ford Motor's New Chief: "I Think It's a Tough Situation"”, in Time:
      In Detroit, the buzz is that he's too nice a guy, unwilling to impose draconian job cuts at the risk of angering the UAW.
    • 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):
      Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Who's he?
      Patrick: He's only the most popular kid in school.
      Allen Gregory: Ah, the two heavyweights finally meet. Sure you're tired of all the buzz. Allen Gregory DeLongpre.
      Joel Zadak: Joel...Zadak!
  7. (uncountable) Synonym of fizz-buzz (“counting game”)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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buzz (third-person singular simple present buzzes, present participle buzzing, simple past and past participle buzzed)

  1. (intransitive) To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings.
    • 1855 November 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Childhood”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 47:
      Ah! the singing, fatal arrow, / Like a wasp it buzzed, and stung him [a roebuck]!
    • 1922, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Holy Family”, in Fantasia of the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 14:
      So that now the universe has escaped from the pin which was pushed through it, like an impaled fly vainly buzzing: now that the multiple universe flies its own complicated course quite free, and hasn't got any hub, we can hope also to escape.
    1. (by extension) To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
    2. Of a group of people, to talk about some interesting topic excitedly.
    3. (chiefly of an insect) To fly while making such a sound.
      A fly was buzzing past me.
  2. (colloquial) To show a high level of activity and haste, energization or excitement, to be busy as a bee in one’s actions but perhaps mentally charged.
  3. (transitive) To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly.
  4. (transitive) To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
  5. (aviation) To fly at high speed and at a very low altitude over a specified area, as to make a surprise pass.
    • 2013, The Economist, Stopping asteroid strikes: Defenders of the Earth‎[1]:
      […] an asteroid a mere 15-20 metres across exploded with the force of a medium-sized atom bomb over Chelyabinsk, in Russia, and another, much larger one buzzed Earth a few hours later.
  6. (transitive) To cut the hair in a close-cropped military style, or buzzcut.
    • 2012, Ellen Hartman, Out of Bounds, page 130:
      Deacon said, “You used to beg me to let you buzz your hair when you were little.” “And then I grew up and realized how awful you looked when you buzzed yours.”
  7. (archaic, transitive) To drink to the bottom.
    • 1849, The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register:
      He buzzed the bottle with such a hearty good will as settled the fate of another, which Soapey rang for as a matter of course. There was but the rejected one, which however Spigot put into a different decanter and brought in […]
  8. (transitive) To communicate with (a person) by means of a buzzer.
    • 2012, Steven Joseph Sinopoli, The Seventh House, page 66:
      Then one day my secretary buzzed me and said Frank Sinatra was on the phone. When I picked up the phone it was the Chief who played dumb and would not admit that he said he was Frank Sinatra.

Quotations

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Translations

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English buzz.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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buzz m (uncountable)

  1. buzz (excitement)
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