drone
1. (bio) A reproductive male bee or ant.
• ZOOLOGY
2. (aviation) A pilotless aircraft (from 1946).
3. (SF) In the Star Trek universe, a member of the Borg Collective. A Borg drone, like its insect counterpart, is efficient, expendable, and single-minded. Borg drones are designed to carry out a specific task without boredom or fatigue, and can labor continuously for several days before regenerating. To assist in their specific task, each drone is supplied with a unique set of implants. All Borg drones are also equipped with sufficient technology to maintain their biological halves indefinitely; hence, Borg drones cannot die of old age. The loss of a single drone or even the crew of an entire ship has litte effect on the Collective as a whole: the lost drones are easily replaced by newly assimilated drones. See also hive intelligence.
• SCIENCE OF STAR TREK
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