dragon

American  

[drag-uhn] / ˈdræg ən /

noun

1. a mythical monster generally represented as a huge, winged reptile with crested head and enormous claws and teeth, and often spouting fire.

2. Archaic. a huge serpent or snake.

3. Bible. a large animal, possibly a large snake or crocodile.

4. the dragon, Satan.

5. a fierce, violent person.

6. a very watchful and strict woman; duenna.

7. flying dragon.

8. Botany. any of several araceous plants, as Arisaema dracontium green dragon, or dragonroot, the flowers of which have a long, slender spadix and a green, shorter spathe.

9. a short musket carried by a mounted infantryman in the 16th and 17th centuries.

10. a soldier armed with such a musket.

11. Astronomy. Dragon, the constellation Draco.

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idioms

1. chase the dragon, to inhale the vapor of heated heroin or another opiate drug.

dragon British  

/ ˈdræɡən /

noun

1. a mythical monster usually represented as breathing fire and having a scaly reptilian body, wings, claws, and a long tail

2. informal a fierce or intractable person, esp a woman

3. any of various very large lizards, esp the Komodo dragon

4. any of various North American aroid plants, esp the green dragon

5. Christianity a manifestation of Satan or an attendant devil

6. a yacht of the International Dragon Class, 8.88m long (29.2 feet), used in racing

7. slang to smoke opium or heroin

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Other Word Forms

• dragoness noun
• dragonish adjective
• dragonlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of dragon

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin dracōn- (stem of dracō ), from Greek drákōn the name of a kind of serpent, probably originally an epithet, “the (sharp-)sighted one,” akin to dérkesthai “to look”

Example Sentences

One man had a fish, another man had a dragon, and the third had an anchor.

From Literature

Their holiday attire celebrating Pride month or Saint George’s dragon kill, or Jesus’s birthday.

From Salon

Of course, there was probably no such thing as dragons, but there might be.

From Literature

The dragon he had been trying to draw looked like a dog with wings.

From Literature

It does not do to leave a dragon out of your calculations, I hear him say aloud.

From Literature