# buzz
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English *bussen (suggested by Middle English bussyng (“buzzing”)), of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Scots bizz (“to buzz”). Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).

### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

buzz (countable and uncountable, plural buzzes)
* A continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
** 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 209:In the steady buzz of flies the homeward-bound agent was lying flushed and insensible[.]
* A whisper.
* The audible friction of voiced consonants.
* (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.
* (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.
* (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!
* (uncountable) Synonym of fizz-buzz (“counting game”)

#### Translations

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

### Verb

buzz (third-person singular simple present buzzes, present participle buzzing, simple past and past participle buzzed)
* (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.
** (by extension) To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice.
*** c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:However these disturbers of our peace / Buzz in the people's ears.
** Of a group of people, to talk about some interesting topic excitedly.
*** 1928 February 25 – March 3, Arthur Conan Doyle, “When the World Screamed”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 570:But I tell you this has set all London buzzing. The old man is where he likes to be, with a pin-point limelight right on his hairy old head.
** (chiefly of an insect) To fly while making such a sound.
    A fly was buzzing past me.
*** 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter XX, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:The flies, lethargic with the autumn, were beginning to buzz into the room.
* (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.
* (transitive) To whisper; to communicate, as tales, in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly.
** c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:I will buzz abroad such prophecies / That Edward shall be fearful of his life.
* (transitive) To talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice.
* (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:[…] 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.
* (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.”
* (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 […]
* (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

* For quotations using this term, see Citations:buzz.

#### Translations
### Derived terms

* abuzz
* bizz-buzz
* buzz about
* buzzbait
* buzz-bomb
* buzz bomb
* buzz button
* buzz cut
* buzzie
* buzz in
* buzzkill
* buzzle
* buzzless
* buzzlike
* buzz off
* buzz-phrase
* buzz pollination
* buzzsaw
* buzz-saw
* buzz saw
* buzz score
* buzz session
* buzzstorm
* buzz track
* buzz up
* buzz word
* buzzword
* buzz-word
* buzzworm
* buzzworthy
* buzzy
* catch a buzz
* fizz-buzz
* give someone a buzz
* glacial buzz saw
* outbuzz

### Further reading

* buzz on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English buzz.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bøz/, /byz/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

buzz m (uncountable)
* buzz (excitement)