flapdragon

[ flap-drag-uhn ]

noun

an old game in which the players snatch raisins, plums, etc., out of burning brandy, and eat them.
the object so caught and eaten.

Origin of flapdragon

First recorded in 1580–90; flap + dragon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

A flap-dragon was a raisin floating on lighted spirit in a dish or glass and had to be snatched out with the mouth and swallowed.
The Mermaid Series. Edited by H. Ellis. The best plays of the old dramatists. Thomas Dekker. Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys. | Thomas Dekker
As candles ends made the most formidable flap-dragon, the greatest merit was ascribed to the heroism of swallowing them.
Folk-lore of Shakespeare | Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

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