dragonet

American

[drag-uh-net, drag-uh-nit] / ˌdræg əˈnɛt, ˈdræg ə nɪt /

noun

any fish of the genus Callionymus, the species of which are small and usually brightly colored.

dragonet British

/ ˈdræɡənɪt /

noun

any small spiny-finned fish of the family Callionymidae, having a flat head and a slender tapering brightly coloured body and living at the bottom of shallow seas

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dragonet

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French; dragon, -et

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.

Half in a dream he wandered forward to the riverward side of the tree, where great winding roots grew out into the stream, like gnarled dragonets straining down to drink.

From Literature

A pair of mandarin dragonet at sunset in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and a nearby coral reef.

From BBC

The female, or sordid dragonet, was considered by Linnæus and by many subsequent naturalists as a distinct species; it is of a dingy reddish-brown, with the dorsal fin brown and the other fins white.

From Project Gutenberg

The gem-like colours of the male dragonet, the butterfly wings of certain gurnards, and the decorated tails of some exotic carps all point in the same direction.

From Project Gutenberg

Why the dragonet snapped at him I have no idea.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023