▪ I. buzzing, vbl. n.1
(ˈbʌzɪŋ)
[f. buzz v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of the verb buzz.
1. A sibilant humming.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xii. (1495) 768 Tyll one bee wake them all with twyes bussyng or thryes. c 1540 Pilgrym's Tale 66 in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) 79, I herde a bussinge..I thought yt had beyn the dran be. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying Ins. i. v. 12 Two or three loud buzzings. 1865 Blackmore Maid of Sk. xxvi. 155 He had..a kind of a buzzing in one ear. 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air §35 The buzzing of the fly [is] produced..by a constant current of air through the trachea. |
2. Confused or mingled utterance; busy murmuring, muttering; murmur, busy talk, rumour.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. (1557) 408/2 The..obseruaunces of the churche, which he calleth..howling, buzsing, and crying oute. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. i. 148 A buzzing of a Separation Betweene the King and Katherine. 1827 Carlyle Libussa, Transl. (1874) 94 The hum of the multitude, the whispering and buzzing. 1882 H. Merivale Faucit of B. II. ii. i. 151 The buzzings of the Agnostics. |
▪ II. ˈbuzzing, vbl. n.2 Thieves' cant.
[f. buzz v.3 + -ing1.]
Pocket-picking.
| 1819 J. H. Vaux Mem. I. xii. 140, I had not been accustomed to buzzing. 1884 Pall Mall G. 29 Dec. 4/2 Descending somewhat in the scale of crime, we come to simple ‘buzzing’, or the picking of pockets. |
▪ III. ˈbuzzing, ppl. a.
[f. buzz v.1 + -ing2.]
1. Making, or characterized by, a sibilant humming.
| 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. ii. 13 What is this buzzynge blumberinge trow we: thunder? 1600 Maydes Metam. i. in O. Pl. (1882) I. 113 Bees..Whose buzing musick..shall her sences greet. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 239 A fierce loud buzzing Breez. 1727 Thomson Summer 231 In a corner of the buzzing shade. 1827–8 Lamb in Poems (Chandos) 559. 1843 Macaulay Lays, Virginia 25 Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will crowd. |
b. Said of sounds.
| 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 117 A kind of buzzing noise. 1844 Dufton Deafness 85 Pains over the forehead..succeeded by a buzzing noise. |
2. Whispering, muttering; busily talking, full of busy talk.
| 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 840/1 A companie of bussing monks. 1618 Barnevelt's Apol. B iv, Buzzing whisperer, tell mee, etc. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 306 The buzzing Multitudes. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxlii, Where buzzing nations choked the ways. |
Hence ˈbuzzingly adv.
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. x, The pupils..buzzingly passed a ragged book from hand to hand. |
▸ colloq. (orig. U.S.). Lively, exciting; busy, popular.
| 1882 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 175/2 The mournful notes were fit to wring one's heart, breaking in as they did upon the careless life of the buzzing streets. 1927 News (Frederick, Maryland) 28 May 4/5 Such a buzzing town and livewire populace. 1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 10 Mar. 25 An outbreak of anti-Chinese disturbances led fearful Chinese merchants to shutter their shops,..leaving the normally buzzing neighborhood ghostly still. 2001 Middle East Times (Egypt ed.) 7–13 Apr. 6/1 Dubai..has a buzzing nightlife. |