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Dragon vs Butterfly - What's the difference?

dragon | butterfly |

As nouns the difference between dragon and butterfly

is that dragon is (mythical creature) while butterfly is a flying insect of the order lepidoptera , distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.

As a verb butterfly is

to cut almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.

dragon

English

(Dragon)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature.
  • # In Western mythology, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like body, often a monster with fiery breath.
  • #* :
  • But as every well-brought-up prince was expected to kill a dragon', and rescue a princess, the ' dragons grew fewer and fewer till it was often quite hard for a princess to find a dragon to be rescued from.
  • # In Eastern mythology, a large, snake-like monster with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually beneficent.
  • #* 1913 , , chapter XIII:
  • These tapestries were magnificently figured with golden dragons'; and as the serpentine bodies gleamed and shimmered in the increasing radiance, each ' dragon , I thought, intertwined its glittering coils more closely with those of another.
  • An animal of various species that resemble a dragon in appearance:
  • # (obsolete) A very large snake; a python.
  • # Any of various agamid lizards of the genera Draco'', ''Physignathus or .
  • # A Komodo dragon.
  • (astronomy, with definite article, often capitalized) The constellation Draco.
  • * 1605 , , Act I, Scene 2:
    • My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my nativity was vnder Vrsa Maior .
  • (pejorative) An unpleasant woman; a harridan.
    • She’s a bit of a dragon .
  • (with definite article, often capitalized) The (historical) Chinese empire or the People's Republic of China.
    • Napoleon already warned of the awakening of the Dragon .
  • (figuratively) Something very formidable or dangerous.
  • A luminous exhalation from marshy ground, seeming to move through the air like a winged serpent.
  • (military, historical) 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)
  • A variety of carrier pigeon.
    • (Webster 1913)

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "dragon")

    Derived terms

    * bearded dragon * Chinese dragon * dragon beam * dragon boat * dragon boat festival * dragoness * dragonet * dragonfish * dragonfly * dragon fruit * dragonhead * dragonish * dragonking * dragon lady * dragon's blood * dragonslayer * dragon tie * dragon tree * dragon worm * feed the dragon * grand dragon * Komodo dragon * leafy sea dragon * reluctant dragon * snapdragon * tickle the dragon's tail

    Related terms

    * draconine * draco * dracula * drake * dragoon

    Synonyms

    * (legendary creature ): drake, monster, serpent, wyrm, wyvern, lindworm * (unpleasant woman ): battle-axe, bitch, harridan, shrew, termagant, virago

    See also

    * basilisk * serpent * wyvern * wurm * Saint George * Saint Patrick ----

    butterfly

    English

    (Butterfly) (wikipedia butterfly)

    Noun

    (butterflies)
  • A flying insect of the order Lepidoptera , distinguished from moths by their diurnal activity and generally brighter colouring.
  • * 1897 , Henry James, What Maisie Knew :
    • The day came indeed when her breathless auditors learnt from her in bewilderment that what ailed him was that he was, alas, simply not serious. Maisie wept on Mrs. Wix's bosom after hearing that Sir Claude was a butterfly [...].
  • The butterfly stroke.
  • A use of surgical tape, cut into thin strips and placed across an open wound to hold it closed.
    • butterfly tape

    Synonyms

    * (l)

    Derived terms

    * butterflies in one's stomach * butterfly ballot * butterfly banners * butterfly bat * butterfly bomb * butterfly bush (see buddleia or buddleja) * butterfly chair * butterfly clam * butterfly collector (see lepidopterist or lepidopterology) * butterfly cod * butterfly crab * butterfly dam * butterfly damper * butterfly effect * butterfly fish * butterfly flower (see schizanthus) * butterfly hinge * butterfly knife * butterfly knot * butterfly lily * butterfly mussel * butterfly net * butterfly nut (wing nut) * butterfly orchid * butterfly pea * butterfly plant * butterfly ray * butterfly shell * butterfly stroke (swimming) * butterfly table * butterfly tulip * butterfly valve * butterfly weed * butterfly window * float like a butterfly * peacock butterfly * social butterfly

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To cut almost entirely in half and spread the halves apart, in a shape suggesting the wings of a butterfly.
    • butterflied shrimp
    Butterfly the chicken before you grill it.
  • To cut strips of surgical tape or plasters into thin strips, and place across a gaping wound to close it.

    • See also

    * caterpillar * flutterby * moth * *

    Anagrams

    * (l)

    References

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