"busy as a bee" meaning in English

See busy as a bee in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈbɪziæzəˈbiː/ [US] Audio: En-au-busy as a bee.ogg
Rhymes: -iː Etymology: Compare Middle English bisy as bees. Etymology templates: {{cog|enm|bisy as bees}} Middle English bisy as bees Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} busy as a bee (not comparable)
  1. (simile, idiomatic) Very active; working constantly. Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Translations (working constantly): pilný jako mravenec (Czech), pilný jako včelka (Czech), häärätä [verb] (Finnish), hyöriä [verb] (Finnish), pracowity jak mrówka (Polish), marljiv kao pčelica (Serbo-Croatian), flitig som en myra (Swedish), flitig som ett bi (Swedish)
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          "ref": "1811, Jane Austen, chapter 26, in Sense and Sensibility:",
          "text": "Lord, I have been as busy as a bee ever since dinner!",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1872 — Johanna Spyri, Heidi, ch. 16 (translated)",
          "text": "Heidi ran backwards and forwards as busy as a bee and brought out everything she could find in the cupboard, for she did not know how to be pleased enough that she could help to entertain the doctor."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1914, A. E. W. Mason, chapter XVIII, in The Witness for the Defence:",
          "text": "There was his father bending over his papers at his writing-table before the window, busy as a bee no doubt at some new enthusiasm which was destined to infuriate his neighbours.",
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        "Very active; working constantly."
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        "(simile, idiomatic) Very active; working constantly."
      ],
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "working constantly",
          "word": "pilný jako mravenec"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "working constantly",
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          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "working constantly",
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          "word": "häärätä"
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          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "working constantly",
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          "code": "pl",
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          "sense": "working constantly",
          "word": "pracowity jak mrówka"
        },
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          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "working constantly",
          "word": "marljiv kao pčelica"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "working constantly",
          "word": "flitig som en myra"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "working constantly",
          "word": "flitig som ett bi"
        }
      ]
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          "ref": "1811, Jane Austen, chapter 26, in Sense and Sensibility:",
          "text": "Lord, I have been as busy as a bee ever since dinner!",
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        },
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          "ref": "1872 — Johanna Spyri, Heidi, ch. 16 (translated)",
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        },
        {
          "ref": "1914, A. E. W. Mason, chapter XVIII, in The Witness for the Defence:",
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        "(simile, idiomatic) Very active; working constantly."
      ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "pilný jako mravenec"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "pilný jako včelka"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "häärätä"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "hyöriä"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "pracowity jak mrówka"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "marljiv kao pčelica"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "flitig som en myra"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "working constantly",
      "word": "flitig som ett bi"
    }
  ],
  "word": "busy as a bee"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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