hive

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 (also beehive) [C] a structure made for bees to live in 2 [C] the bees living in a hive 3 [C,usually sing.] a ~ of activity / industry a place full of people who are busy 4 (hives) [U] a skin disease that causes the skin to become red and painful verb PHRASALVERBS hive sth<->off (to / into sth) [oftenpassive] (especially BrE) to separate one part of a group from the rest; to sell part of a business: The IT department is being hived off into a new company. * The company decided to hive off some of its less profitable concerns.