noun
hive
hyv
noun
1
A structure, natural or man-made, where a colony of bees lives.
"The beekeeper checked each hive for signs of disease."
"A wild hive had formed inside the old oak tree."
2
A place full of busy activity, likened to a beehive.
"The trading floor was a hive of activity before the market opened."
3
A section or branch of the Windows registry.
"The technician backed up the registry hive before making changes."
verb
1
To gather bees into a hive, or to live together in a tightly packed group.
"The swarm hived in a hollow log behind the barn."
How to Use Hive
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA beehive, or by extension any place buzzing with busy activity — also a technical term for a registry section in Windows.
Common pairings
a hive of activity
bee hive
registry hive
Word Forms
hived past tense, hives plural, hives plural, hives singular
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “hive”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
The beekeeper checked each _____ for signs of disease.
Etymology
From Old English hyf, going back to a very old root meaning a curved or hollowed-out vessel — related to words like "cup" and "coupe". The computing sense (a section of the registry) was chosen later purely as a bee-themed pun.