dragon

[ drag-uhn ]

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. dragoon ( defs 1, 2, 3 ).
11. Dragon, Astronomy. the constellation Draco.

dragon

/ 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. chase the dragon slang.
   chase the dragon to smoke opium or heroin

Derived Forms

• ˈdragonish, adjective
• ˈdragoness, noun:feminine

Other Words From

• drag·on·ish adjective
• drag·on·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dragon¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of dragon¹

C13: from Old French, from Latin dracō, from Greek drakōn; related to drakos eye

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

One of the Higher Education Act’s architects lamented that the Guaranteed Student Loan Program quickly became a “fund-eating dragon.”

From Washington Post

Kathryn set up where the natural light was brightest in her Petworth apartment, put on jeans and “a super cozy alpaca sweater that feels like a hug,” and ordered emperor’s dragon noodles and a gimlet-style cocktail from Tiger Fork in Shaw.

From Washington Post

It feels like unfolding an elaborate piece of origami step by step, a sequence of secret creases that show how easily a humming bird or dragon can become an ordinary piece of paper again.

From Washington Post

Shai Meiri, a herpetologist at Tel Aviv University, has previously shown that many dragon lizards live in small, hard-to-access areas, making the reptiles difficult to study.

From Science News

After the encounter, he recovered the famed sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and also won the hand of the woman who he saved from the dragon.

From Realm of History

How to Train Your Dragon 2, the tenth highest grossing movie in 2014 America, made $22 million at the Korean box office.

From The Daily Beast

In one picture, his head gets ripped off by a blue dragon; in another, he is the blue dragon.

From The Daily Beast

Screen-filling enemies like the aforementioned dragon come early and they come often.

From The Daily Beast

Look at The Killing, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, all of these Scandinavian things with female investigators.

From The Daily Beast

Consider a song like “Crayon” by G-Dragon, a member of the boy band Big Bang.

From The Daily Beast

They would never connive at this second sowing of the dragon's teeth of Cadmus.

From Project Gutenberg

Aristide darted off like a dragon-fly in the sunshine, as happy as a child with a new toy.

From Project Gutenberg

Now an automobile was a marvellous dragon for Rosemary, and she could never see too many for her pleasure.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a dragon-fly personally conducting two moles through a rose-garden.

From Project Gutenberg

The dragon tree is the slowest of growth among vegetables; it seems also to be slowest in decay.

From Project Gutenberg