honeycomb

[ huhn-ee-kohm ]

noun

1. a structure of rows of hexagonal wax cells, formed by bees in their hive for the storage of honey, pollen, and their eggs.
2. a piece of this containing honey and chewed as a sweet.
3. anything whose appearance suggests such a structure, especially in containing many small units or holes:

   The building was a honeycomb of offices and showrooms.

4. the reticulum of a ruminant.
5. Textiles.
   1. Also called waf·fle cloth [wof, -, uh, l klawth, kloth]. a fabric with an embossed surface woven in a pattern resembling a honeycomb.
   2. the characteristic weave of such a fabric.

adjective

1. having the structure or appearance of a honeycomb.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to be full of holes; pierce with many holes or cavities:

   an old log honeycombed with ant burrows.

2. to penetrate in all parts:

   a city honeycombed with vice.

honeycomb

/ ˈhʌnɪˌkəʊm /

noun

1. a waxy structure, constructed by bees in a hive, that consists of adjacent hexagonal cells in which honey is stored, eggs are laid, and larvae develop
2. something resembling this in structure or appearance
3. zoology another name for reticulum

verb

1. to pierce or fill with holes, cavities, etc
2. to permeate

   honeycombed with spies

Word History and Origins

Origin of honeycomb¹

before 1050; Middle English huny-comb, Old English hunigcamb. See honey, comb

Example Sentences

The school’s modular design resembles a honeycomb, where as few or as many nodes as needed can be linked together.

From Singularity Hub 

The surface of the cake reinforces its name, with the hexagon pattern of a honeycomb.

From Washington Post

WaveCel uses a honeycomb structure that both crushes and shears laterally on impact to lessen linear and rotational energy.

From Outside Online

In case you missed it, the central honeycomb stands for “Value”, which can only be fully achieved when all other surrounding factors are met.

From Search Engine Land

They do this by repairing the wax caps on the queens’ cells in the honeycomb.

From Science News For Students

This dish is based on the beautiful white honeycomb tripe, which comes from the second stomach, or the reticulum, of an ox.

From The Daily Beast

It was like honeycomb, the cells of which had been sliced by a knife; the shining metal brimmed over in the delicate quartz cells.

From Project Gutenberg

You must have seen a "cob" of Indian corn some time, with all the flat yellow grains nestling in a honeycomb of little cells.

From Project Gutenberg

All the wasps which I have hitherto described have their tiers of cells single: now, the honeycomb is invariably double.

From Project Gutenberg

Johnny started to take an apple out of his pack, then changed his mind and took a piece of honeycomb.

From Project Gutenberg

The piebald sniffed at the honeycomb, then jerked up its head to watch him suspiciously.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• corrupt
• infest
• mar
• pepper
• pervade
• puncture