Other forms: honeycombs
A honeycomb is the wax grid of six-sided cells bees store honey in. A honeycomb frame, cut honeycomb, honeycomb pattern.
The hexagon is the shape that encloses the most area with the least wall, which is why bees build it and why engineers copy it — honeycomb panels are light and stiff and are used in aircraft floors. Bees make the wax from their own bodies at considerable cost. Note honeycombed, meaning riddled with holes; and honeycomb as a brittle golden sweet, also called cinder toffee.
1nounhoneycombThe wax grid of six-sided cells bees store honey in.
“One honeycomb frame holds about two kilos.”
2nounbrittleA brittle golden sweet.
“The chocolate bar had a crunchy honeycomb centre that melted on the tongue.”
honeycomb is a cell structure.
Proto-Indo-European
*kn̥h₂ónks — honey
Old English
huniġcamb
Middle English
honycomb
English, today
honeycomb
Built from
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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA