%ragon%

n. [ From Aragon, in Spain. ] (Min.) A mineral composed of calcium carbonate and identical in composition with calcite, but differing from it in its crystalline form and some of its physical characters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Aragonite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. dra`kwn, prob. fr. de`rkesqai, dra`kein, to look (akin to Skr. darç to see), and so called from its terrible eyes. Cf. Drake a dragon, Dragoon. ] 1. (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 Webster ]

Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Ps. lxxiv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Ps. xci. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

He 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 ]

2. A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (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 ]

6. (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 ]

7. (Zool.) A variety of carrier pigeon. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (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 Webster ]

Dragon 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 &unr_;. 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 &unr_;. 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 ]

n. 1. A little dragon. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A small British marine fish (Callionymuslyra); -- called also yellow sculpin, fox, and gowdie. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. resembling a dragon. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a dragon. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. dragon dragoon, because Louis XIV., in persecuting the Protestants of his kingdom, quartered dragoons upon them. ] The severe persecution of French Protestants under Louis XIV., by an armed force, usually of dragoons; hence, a rapid and devastating incursion; dragoonade. [ 1913 Webster ]

He learnt it as he watched the dragonnades, the tortures, the massacres of the Netherlands. C. Kingsley.

{ }. See Dragon's blood, Dragon's head, etc., under Dragon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A game in which the players catch raisins out burning brandy, and swallow them blazing. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The thing thus caught and eaten. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cakes and ale, and flapdragons and mummer's plays, and all the happy sports of Christians night. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To swallow whole, as a flapdragon; to devour. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

See how the sea flapdragoned it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. paragon, F. parangon; cf. It. paragone, Sp. paragon, parangon; prob. fr. Gr. &unr_; to rub against; para` beside + &unr_; whetstone; cf. LGr. &unr_; a polishing stone. ] 1. A companion; a match; an equal. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Philoclea, who indeed had no paragon but her sister. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Emulation; rivalry; competition. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Full many feats adventurous
Performed, in paragon of proudest men. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A model or pattern; especially a pattern of excellence or perfection; as, a paragon of beauty or eloquence. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Man, . . . the paragon of animals ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The riches of sweet Mary's son,
Boy-rabbi, Israel's paragon. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Print.) A size of type between great primer and double pica. See the Note under Type. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. OF. paragonner, F. parangonner. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To compare; to parallel; to put in rivalry or emulation with. [ Obs. ] Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To compare with; to equal; to rival. [ R. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

In arms anon to paragon the morn,
The morn new rising. Glover. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To serve as a model for; to surpass. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath achieved a maid
That paragons description and wild fame. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be equal; to hold comparison. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Few or none could . . . paragon with her. Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Gr. &unr_;, p. pr. of &unr_; to mislead. ] (Min.) A kind of mica related to muscovite, but containing soda instead of potash. It is characteristic of the paragonite schist of the Alps. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chief leader or a king; a head; a dictator; -- a title assumed by the ancient British chiefs when called to lead other chiefs. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dread Pendragon, Britain's king of kings. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., literally, red dragon. ] (Her.) One of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) (a) A dragonet, or sculpin. (b) The pegasus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Bot.) (a) Any plant of the scrrophulariaceous genus Antirrhinum, especially the cultivated Antirrhinum majus, whose showy flowers are fancifully likened to the face of a dragon. (b) A West Indian herb (Ruellia tuberosa) with curiously shaped blue flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A play in which raisins are snatched from a vessel containing burning brandy, and eaten; also, that which is so eaten. See Flapdragon. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp. taragona, Ar. tarkh&unr_;n; perhaps fr. Gr. &unr_; a dragon, or L. draco; cf. L. dracunculus tarragon. Cf. Dragon. ] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Artemisa (Artemisa dracunculus), much used in France for flavoring vinegar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. tetragonum, Gr. tetra`gwnon; te`tra- (see Tetra-) + gwni`a corner, angle: cf. F. tétragone. ] 1. (Geom.) A plane figure having four sides and angles; a quadrangle, as a square, a rhombus, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Astrol.) An aspect of two planets with regard to the earth when they are distant from each other ninety degrees, or the fourth of a circle. Hutton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a tetragon; having four angles or sides; thus, the square, the parallelogram, the rhombus, and the trapezium are tetragonal fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Having four prominent longitudinal angles. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Crystallog.) Designating, or belonging to, a certain system of crystallization; dimetric. See Tetragonal system, under Crystallization. [ 1913 Webster ]