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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

buzz in en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (informal, transitive) To open a remote-controlled door to allow (a person) to enter after sounding the doorbell or buzzer.
    • I'm going to buy some more coffee. Could you buzz me in when I get back?
  2. (informal, intransitive) On a game show or similar competition, to press the buzzer to provide an answer.
    • He disliked the new ruling that contestants could only buzz in after Trebek finished reading the clue. 2015, David Baber, “Art Fleming”, in Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, page 101:
    • It was the first contest to employ a "lock-out device": whichever contestant buzzed in first automatically shut the other out. 1979, Maxene Fave, Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, page 124:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
buzzes in Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
buzzing in Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
buzzed in Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
buzzed in Tense=Past lexicographic