snapdragon
Americannoun
-
any plant belonging to the genus Antirrhinum, of the figwort family, especially A. majus, cultivated for its spikes of showy flowers, each having a corolla supposed to resemble the mouth of a dragon.
noun
Etymology
Origin of snapdragon
Explanation
Some snapdragon flowers are a solid color, and others have two colors, but they all resemble a dragon's head. Snapdragons tend to grow in North America, North Africa, and some rocky areas of Europe, coming in colors ranging from white to yellow to pinks and reds. When you squeeze the sides of a snapdragon flower, the "mouth" opens and closes, making it a fun plant for kids. As a garden plant name, snapdragon dates from the 16th century. In the 18th century, it was also the name of a game (now obsolete) that involved eating raisins after snatching them out of burning brandy.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This 18- to 20-inch-tall snapdragon features open-faced double flowers that start out in shades of orange and orange-red, transitioning to a dusty shade as they age.
From Seattle Times • May 8, 2024
He writes that “a snapdragon is now called an antirrhinum, a word no one can spell”—let alone pronounce—“without consulting a dictionary,” and that “forget-me-nots are coming more and more to be called myosotis.”
From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019
Bees follow the patterns as if they were arrows on billboards and enter the mouths of the snapdragon.
From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2017
The purple pigment is the result of the transfer of a gene from a snapdragon plant - the modification triggers a process within the tomato plant allowing the anthocyanin to develop.
From BBC • Jan. 24, 2014
There were no pleasant games of snapdragon, or touch, nor even a gossip over the tea table for the young-lady foxes.
From Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales First Series by Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
