dragonfly
noun/ˈdɹæɡənˌflaɪ/
Etymology From dragon + fly. Compare drakefly (“mayfly”).
1
An insect of the suborder Epiprocta or, more strictly, the infraorder Anisoptera, having four long transparent wings held perpendicular to a long body when perched.
- There were two dragonflies in the garden today.
- The delicate coloured Dragon Flies may have likewise some Corrosive quality.1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum:
3 more examples
- The sapphire needled dragonflies That flirt with the crested newt! And now before his newtly nose, […]1897, Thomas Wright, The Acid Sisters: And Other Poems, page 93:
- Stacey Combes, who studies the biomechanics of dragonfly flight at Harvard, once watched a laboratory dragonfly eat 30 flies in a row.2013 April 1, Natalie Angier, “Nature’s Drone, Pretty and Deadly”, in The New York Times:
- As the airboat skimmed across the shallow water, scattering blue dragonflies and launching a heron into the air, Keith Price squinted into the sun and relished the isolation of Florida’s unrivaled river of grass.2016 June 11, Lizette Alvarez, “In a Corner of the Everglades, a Way of Life Ebbs”, in The New York Times:
- Synonyms
- adderbolt, battimamselle, darner, darning needle, devil's darning needle, devil's needle, dining needle, ear sewer, horse-stinger, mosquito fly, mosquito hawk, needle, skeeter hawk, snake doctor, snake feeder, spindle, witch doctor
- Related terms
- Anisoptera, damselfly, Odonata
- Hypernyms
- odonate, sewing needle