busy as a bee

English

Etymology

Compare Middle English bisy as bees.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪziæzəˈbiː/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Adjective

busy as a bee (not comparable)

1. (simile, idiomatic) Very active; working constantly.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, chapter 26, in Sense and Sensibility:

     Lord, I have been as busy as a bee ever since dinner!

   • 1872 — Johanna Spyri, Heidi, ch. 16 (translated)

     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.

   • 1914, A. E. W. Mason, chapter XVIII, in The Witness for the Defence:

     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.

Translations

working constantly

• Czech: pilný jako mravenec, pilný jako včelka
• Finnish: häärätä (fi) (verb), hyöriä (fi) (verb)
• Polish: pracowity jak mrówka (pl)
• Serbo-Croatian: marljiv kao pčelica
• Swedish: flitig som en myra (sv), flitig som ett bi