beeline

1 of 2

noun

bee·​line ˈbē-ˌlīn How to pronounce beeline (audio)
: a straight direct course

beeline

2 of 2

verb

beelined; beelining; beelines

intransitive verb

: to go quickly in a straight direct course

Examples of beeline in a Sentence

Verb He beelined out the door.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Taylor Swift sings along to Olivia Rodrigo, beelines for Ice Spice after best new artist loss With each commercial break, the A-listers and their guests seated at the front of the house had the opportunity to mix and mingle. Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024 The notion that anyone might make a beeline to turn this punch-drunk nonsense into a new Statham franchise seems unlikely. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2024 From the Chiefs’ 9-yard line, Flowers took a short pass from Jackson and made a beeline to end zone. Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 29 Jan. 2024 Skip the student bars, which are jammed with revelers, and make a beeline instead to Latteria Trastevere. Ray Isle, Travel + Leisure, 25 Dec. 2023 Five occupants jumped out, making a beeline toward their target: the branch’s ATM. Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023 Coaches notice an opposing player’s frustration, then make a beeline toward the player after the game to pitch their own team. Ethan Fuller, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2023 Naegleria fowleri enters your body through the nose, crosses the epithelial lining and then makes a beeline up the olfactory nerve to the frontal part of the brain. Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 3 Oct. 2023 One of our guests made a beeline to the other end of the table and sat at what should have been my place. Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2023
Verb
Surfside’s compact downtown district, along Harding Avenue, just a few blocks from the beach, brims with boutiques and restaurants (beeline it for the crunchy spicy tuna latkes at Josh’s Deli). Terry Ward, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Feb. 2024 Clear uses biometric scanning technology to allow travelers to skip the ID verification process and beeline straight to the front of the line at airport security. Stella Shon, Travel + Leisure, 20 Nov. 2023 After presenting Joe Biden with his very own Chiefs jersey, Kelce beelined to the presidential podium and began addressing the audience. Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 23 Oct. 2023 When the doors opened, the stream of shoppers beelined toward a neon Shein sign hanging above black curtains that subtly divided the pop-up from the rest of the 50,000-square-foot store. Carly Olson, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2023 The two came with their parents to Portage’s Salute to Labor Picnic at Founder’s Square Saturday afternoon and almost immediately beelined for the Precision Towing Tow Truck swing, a swing hung from a 32-foot crane arm. Michelle L. Quinn, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2023 According to a report in the Free Press, reporters from media outlets like CNN ignored other candidates in the post-debate scrums and beelined for Ramaswamy. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2023 Though your first inclination might be to panic—or beeline it to your computer to find a replacement—a TikToker named Justin Flom used this light fixture fumble as an opportunity to make some movie magic. Kelsey Mulvey, House Beautiful, 24 July 2023 Copper shoppers beeline for Yeralti Çarşisi, an underground bazaar in the heart of the modern city specializing in copperware. Mark Orwoll, Travel + Leisure, 18 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beeline.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

from the belief that nectar-laden bees return to their hives in a direct line

First Known Use

Noun

1830, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1882, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of beeline was in 1830

Dictionary Entries Near beeline

Cite this Entry

“Beeline.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beeline. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

beeline

noun
bee·​line
ˈbē-ˌlīn
: a straight direct course

More from Merriam-Webster on beeline

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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