GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Found 2 definitions
-
dragon , n. [F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. δράκων, prob. fr. δέρκεσθαι, δράκειν, to look (akin to Skr. darç to see), and so called from its terrible eyes. Cf. Drake a dragon, Dragoon.]
- (Myth.) A fabulous animal, generally represented as a monstrous winged serpent or lizard, with a crested head and enormous claws, and regarded as very powerful and ferocious.1913 Webster
The dragons which appear in early paintings and sculptures are invariably representations of a winged crocodile.
Fairholt.1913 Webster☞ In Scripture the term dragon refers to any great monster, whether of the land or sea, usually to some kind of serpent or reptile, sometimes to land serpents of a powerful and deadly kind. It is also applied metaphorically to Satan.
1913 WebsterThou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Ps. lxxiv. 13.1913 WebsterThou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Ps. xci. 13.1913 WebsterHe laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
Rev. xx. 2.1913 Webster - A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman.Johnson.1913 Webster
- (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco.1913 Webster
- A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent.1913 Webster
- (Mil. Antiq.) A short musket hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt; -- so called from a representation of a dragon's head at the muzzle.Fairholt.1913 Webster
- (Zool.) A small arboreal lizard of the genus Draco, of several species, found in the East Indies and Southern Asia. Five or six of the hind ribs, on each side, are prolonged and covered with weblike skin, forming a sort of wing. These prolongations aid them in making long leaps from tree to tree. Called also flying lizard.1913 Webster
- (Zool.) A variety of carrier pigeon.1913 Webster
- (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms.1913 Webster
☞ Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a dragon.
1913 WebsterDragon arum (Bot.), the name of several species of Arisæma, a genus of plants having a spathe and spadix. See Dragon root(below). -- Dragon fish (Zool.), the dragonet. -- Dragon fly (Zool.), any insect of the family Libellulidæ. They have finely formed, large and strongly reticulated wings, a large head with enormous eyes, and a long body; -- called also mosquito hawks. Their larvæ are aquatic and insectivorous. -- Dragon root (Bot.), an American aroid plant (Arisæma Dracontium); green dragon. -- Dragon's blood, a resinous substance obtained from the fruit of several species of Calamus, esp. from Calamus Rotang and Calamus Draco, growing in the East Indies. A substance known as dragon's blood is obtained by exudation from Dracæna Draco; also from Pterocarpus Draco, a tree of the West Indies and South America. The color is red, or a dark brownish red, and it is used chiefly for coloring varnishes, marbles, etc. Called also Cinnabar Græcorum. -- Dragon's head. (a) (Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus Dracocephalum. They are perennial herbs closely allied to the common catnip. (b) (Astron.) The ascending node of a planet, indicated, chiefly in almanacs, by the symbol . The deviation from the ecliptic made by a planet in passing from one node to the other seems, according to the fancy of some, to make a figure like that of a dragon, whose belly is where there is the greatest latitude; the intersections representing the head and tail; -- from which resemblance the denomination arises. Encyc. Brit. -- Dragon shell (Zool.), a species of limpet. -- Dragon's skin, fossil stems whose leaf scars somewhat resemble the scales of reptiles; -- a name used by miners and quarrymen. Stormonth. -- Dragon's tail (Astron.), the descending node of a planet, indicated by the symbol . See Dragon's head (above). -- Dragon's wort (Bot.), a plant of the genus Artemisia (Artemisia dracunculus). -- Dragon tree (Bot.), a West African liliaceous tree (Dracæna Draco), yielding one of the resins called dragon's blood. See Dracæna. -- Dragon water, a medicinal remedy very popular in the earlier half of the 17th century. “Dragon water may do good upon him.” Randolph (1640). -- Flying dragon, a large meteoric fireball; a bolide.
1913 Webster
- (Myth.) A fabulous animal, generally represented as a monstrous winged serpent or lizard, with a crested head and enormous claws, and regarded as very powerful and ferocious.
-
Green , a. [Compar. Greener ; superl. Greenest.] [OE. grene, AS. grēne; akin to D. groen, OS. grōni, OHG. gruoni, G. grün, Dan. & Sw. grön, Icel. grænn; fr. the root of E. grow. See Grow.]
- Having the color of grass when fresh and growing; resembling that color of the solar spectrum which is between the yellow and the blue; verdant; emerald.1913 Webster
- Having a sickly color; wan.1913 Webster
To look so green and pale.
Shak.1913 Webster - Full of life and vigor; fresh and vigorous; new; recent; as, a green manhood; a green wound.1913 Webster
As valid against such an old and beneficent government as against . . . the greenest usurpation.
Burke.1913 Webster - Not ripe; immature; not fully grown or ripened; as, green fruit, corn, vegetables, etc.1913 Webster
- Not roasted; half raw. [R.]1913 Webster
We say the meat is green when half roasted.
L. Watts.1913 Webster - Immature in age, judgment, or experience; inexperienced; young; raw; not trained; awkward; as, green in years or judgment.1913 Webster
I might be angry with the officious zeal which supposes that its green conceptions can instruct my gray hairs.
Sir W. Scott.1913 Webster - Not seasoned; not dry; containing its natural juices; as, green wood, timber, etc.Shak.1913 Webster
- (Politics) Concerned especially with protection of the environment; -- of political parties and political philosophies; as, the European green parties.PJC
Green brier (Bot.), a thorny climbing shrub (Emilaz rotundifolia) having a yellowish green stem and thick leaves, with small clusters of flowers, common in the United States; -- called also cat brier. -- Green con (Zool.), the pollock. -- Green crab (Zool.), an edible, shore crab (Carcinus menas) of Europe and America; -- in New England locally named joe-rocker. -- Green crop, a crop used for food while in a growing or unripe state, as distingushed from a grain crop, root crop, etc. -- Green diallage. (Min.) (a) Diallage, a variety of pyroxene. (b) Smaragdite. -- Green dragon (Bot.), a North American herbaceous plant (Arisæma Dracontium), resembling the Indian turnip; -- called also dragon root. -- Green earth (Min.), a variety of glauconite, found in cavities in amygdaloid and other eruptive rock, and used as a pigment by artists; -- called also mountain green. -- Green ebony. (a) A south American tree (Jacaranda ovalifolia), having a greenish wood, used for rulers, turned and inlaid work, and in dyeing. (b) The West Indian green ebony. See Ebony. -- Green fire (Pyrotech.), a composition which burns with a green flame. It consists of sulphur and potassium chlorate, with some salt of barium (usually the nitrate), to which the color of the flame is due. -- Green fly (Zool.), any green species of plant lice or aphids, esp. those that infest greenhouse plants. -- Green gage, (Bot.) See Greengage, in the Vocabulary. -- Green gland (Zool.), one of a pair of large green glands in Crustacea, supposed to serve as kidneys. They have their outlets at the bases of the larger antennæ. -- Green hand, a novice. [Colloq.] -- Green heart (Bot.), the wood of a lauraceous tree found in the West Indies and in South America, used for shipbuilding or turnery. The green heart of Jamaica and Guiana is the Nectandra Rodiœi, that of Martinique is the Colubrina ferruginosa. -- Green iron ore (Min.) dufrenite. -- Green laver (Bot.), an edible seaweed (Ulva latissima); -- called also green sloke. -- Green lead ore (Min.), pyromorphite. -- Green linnet (Zool.), the greenfinch. -- Green looper (Zool.), the cankerworm. -- Green marble (Min.), serpentine. -- Green mineral, a carbonate of copper, used as a pigment. See Greengill. -- Green monkey (Zool.) a West African long-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus callitrichus), very commonly tamed, and trained to perform tricks. It was introduced into the West Indies early in the last century, and has become very abundant there. -- Green salt of Magnus (Old Chem.), a dark green crystalline salt, consisting of ammonia united with certain chlorides of platinum. -- Green sand (Founding) molding sand used for a mold while slightly damp, and not dried before the cast is made. -- Green sea (Naut.), a wave that breaks in a solid mass on a vessel's deck. -- Green sickness (Med.), chlorosis. -- Green snake (Zool.), one of two harmless American snakes (Cyclophis vernalis, and C. æstivus). They are bright green in color. -- Green turtle (Zool.), an edible marine turtle. See Turtle. -- Green vitriol. (a) (Chem.) Sulphate of iron; a light green crystalline substance, very extensively used in the preparation of inks, dyes, mordants, etc. (b) (Min.) Same as copperas, melanterite and sulphate of iron. -- Green ware, articles of pottery molded and shaped, but not yet baked. -- Green woodpecker (Zool.), a common European woodpecker (Picus viridis); -- called also yaffle.
1913 Webster
- Having the color of grass when fresh and growing; resembling that color of the solar spectrum which is between the yellow and the blue; verdant; emerald.