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DRAGON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body
Synonyms:
dragon; flying dragon; flying lizard
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("dragon" is a kind of...):
agamid; agamid lizard (a lizard of the family Agamidae)
Holonyms ("dragon" is a member of...):
Draco; genus Draco (a reptile genus known as flying dragons or flying lizards)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A faint constellation twisting around the north celestial pole and lying between Ursa Major and Cepheus
Synonyms:
Draco; Dragon
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Instance hypernyms:
constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings
Synonyms:
dragon; firedrake
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("dragon" is a kind of...):
mythical creature; mythical monster (a monster renowned in folklore and myth)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dragon"):
wivern; wyvern (a fire-breathing dragon used in medieval heraldry; had the head of a dragon and the tail of a snake and a body with wings and two legs)
Instance hyponyms:
Fafnir ((Norse mythology) the Norse dragon that guarded a treasure and was slain by Sigurd)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A fiercely vigilant and unpleasant woman
Synonyms:
dragon; tartar
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("dragon" is a kind of...):
disagreeable woman; unpleasant woman (a woman who is an unpleasant person)
Context examples:
But as nothing of the sort happened to be walking about on Yarmouth flats that night, I provided the best substitute I could by dreaming of dragons until morning.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I think it is for me, said my mother, and sure enough it was addressed in the most beautiful writing to Mrs. Mary Stone, of Friar’s Oak, and there was a red seal the size of a half-crown upon the outside of it with a flying dragon in the middle.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They pointed out the fish and dead birds lying about among the rocks as proving the nature of the food of these creatures, and I heard them congratulating each other on having cleared up the point why the bones of this flying dragon are found in such great numbers in certain well-defined areas, as in the Cambridge Green-sand, since it was now seen that, like penguins, they lived in gregarious fashion.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then away they hastened with her full of joy in their boat towards the ship; but soon came the dragon roaring behind them through the air; for he awoke and missed the princess.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
I implored him to spare her gentle nature—not to crush a fragile flower—and addressed him generally, to the best of my remembrance, as if, instead of being her father, he had been an Ogre, or the Dragon of Wantley.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Your seeing her would have been of no use, said the thief, if I had not taken her away from the dragon; therefore she ought to be mine.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
I told him that I was going down to my aunt, the Dragon of that night, early in the morning; and that she was one of the most tender-hearted and excellent of women, as he would know full well if he knew her better.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
No, she is mine, said the huntsman; for if I had not killed the dragon, he would, after all, have torn you and the princess into pieces.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Ham Peggotty, who went to the national school, and was a very dragon at his catechism, and who may therefore be regarded as a credible witness, reported next day, that happening to peep in at the parlour-door an hour after this, he was instantly descried by Miss Betsey, then walking to and fro in a state of agitation, and pounced upon before he could make his escape.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Then the east wind and the west wind came, and said they too had not seen it, but the south wind said, I have seen the white dove—he has fled to the Red Sea, and is changed once more into a lion, for the seven years are passed away, and there he is fighting with a dragon; and the dragon is an enchanted princess, who seeks to separate him from you.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
