honeylessadj.
/ˈhʌnɪlᵻs/, U.S. /ˈhənilᵻs/ Lacking or without honey; providing no honey.Also figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > bee-keeping > [adjective] > without honey
honeyless1608
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [adjective] > belonging to division Petiolata > belonging to division Anthophila > of or belonging to bees > that make honey > destitute of honey
honeyless1608
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [adjective] > of the nature of, resembling, or having nectar > not having nectar
honeyless1874
1608 T. Middleton Famelie of Love v. ii. sig. I2v Your wife is an angry honilesse waspe.
1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie vii. sig. I4v Many hiues are leaft honylesse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) v. i. 35 Your words, they rob the Hibla Bees, And leaue them Hony-lesse . View more context for this quotation
1732 Footman i. xii. 24 The Girl, when her Virgin Honey is gone, Like the Honeyless Bee is rejected.
1789 J. Bonner Bee-master's Compan. xvi. 114 If there were many bees in the hive, the plate will be honeyless.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 51 So spake they to their pillows; but, alas, Honeyless days and days did he let pass.
1874 J. Lubbock Wild Flowers iii. 68 The inner, honeyless stamens.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Aug. 2/3 Petunias that did their best, Honeyless like all the rest.
1957 Sci. News Let. 2 Feb. 75/3 Cakes with a high concentration of honey stay moist and fresh-tasting longer than honeyless cakes.
1994 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 10 Nov. f4/3 The honey will slide right off and the utensil will be left honeyless.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1608