dragon's teeth
Britishplural noun
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informal conical or wedge-shaped concrete antitank obstacles protruding from the ground in rows: used in World War II
-
to take some action that is intended to prevent strife or trouble but that actually brings it about
Etymology
Origin of dragon's teeth
sense 2 from the story of Cadmus
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.
They run alongside raised banks of red earth, deep trenches and neat lines of anti-tank dragon's teeth concrete pyramids.
From BBC
In Ukraine's fourth summer of full-scale war the fields around Sumy are dotted with corn and sunflowers, not yet in bloom, and a crop of dragon's teeth - triangles of concrete which can stop tanks in their tracks.
From BBC
Last year, Estonia furnished the bridge with dragon's teeth – pyramidal anti-tank obstacles of reinforced concrete.
From BBC
It’s a lot simpler than Poole’s alternative: In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, he writes, the monsters are “hatched from the dragon’s teeth America sowed in its own soil.”
From Slate
Anti-tank fortifications known as dragon’s teeth, the pyramids are a sign of the new defenses Ukraine is building in the south against an anticipated Russian offensive.
From New York Times
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.
