dragonfly
Americannoun
-
any of numerous stout-bodied, nonstinging insects of the order Odonata (suborder Anisoptera), the species of which prey on mosquitoes and other insects and are distinguished from the damselflies by having the wings outstretched rather than folded when at rest.
-
Military. Dragonfly, a two-seat, twin-turbojet U.S. attack aircraft in service since 1967, armed with a Minigun and capable of carrying nearly 5700 pounds (2585 kilograms) of ordnance.
noun
-
any predatory insect of the suborder Anisoptera, having a large head and eyes, a long slender body, two pairs of iridescent wings that are outspread at rest, and aquatic larvae: order Odonata See also damselfly
-
any other insect of the order Odonata
Regionalisms
the dragonfly is also called a darning needle and a devil's darning needle in the Northern and Western U.S. In the Northern U.S. it is also called a sewing needle. In the Midland U.S. it is called a snake feeder, in the South Midland and Southern U.S. a snake doctor, and in the Southern U.S., especially in the Southern Coastal areas, it is called a mosquito hawk or a skeeter hawk. Spindle is also in use, chiefly in New Jersey and in the Delaware Valley. Ear sewer is in older use in some scattered regional areas.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dragonfly
Vocabulary lists containing dragonfly
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.
Qualcomm introduced Dragonfly C1000, a data-center processor that the company says delivers more than twice the performance per watt of competing server chips.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 25, 2026
Just hours earlier, Qualcomm revealed at an investor day that Meta would use its Dragonfly C1000 central processing units when they become available in 2028.
From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026
NASA’s Dragonfly mission will sail for Titan as soon as 2028, and the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft arrives in the Jupiter system in 2030.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
More on Titan and Dragonfly Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is among the Solar System's most unusual worlds -- and it may share features with Earth's early evolution.
From Science Daily • Oct. 17, 2025
Poetry and I stopped our game and yelled up to Dragonfly to come on down and "play the winner," which meant either Poetry or me.
From Shenanigans at Sugar Creek by Hutchens, Paul
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.
