honeycomb

Meanings

Noun

• A structure of hexagonal cells made by bees primarily of wax, to hold their larvae and for storing the honey to feed the larvae and to feed themselves during winter.
• Any structure resembling a honeycomb.
• Voids left in concrete resulting from failure of the mortar to effectively fill the spaces among coarse aggregate particles.
• Manufactured material used to manufacture light, stiff structural components using a sandwich design.
• The texture of the surface of a solar cell, intended to increase its surface area and capture more sunlight.
• A space-filling packing of polytopes in 3- or higher-dimensional space.

Verb

• To riddle something with holes, especially in such a pattern.

Origin

• From Middle English hony combe, from Old English huniġcamb; equivalent to honey + comb. The Oxford English Dictionary (s.v. "honeycomb") suggests that the arrangement of plates of wax (with honey) "hanging parallel to each other from the roof of the hive suggests a comb with its teeth".