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Hydra vs Dragon - What's the difference?

hydra | dragon |

As nouns the difference between hydra and dragon

is that hydra is any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles while dragon is a legendary serpentine or reptilian creature.

As proper nouns the difference between hydra and dragon

is that hydra is a mythological serpent with seven heads, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours. Also called the Lernaean Hydra while Dragon is the Devil.

hydra

Noun

  • Any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles.
  • A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be solved easily and rapidly.
  • * 2009 , Kris Frieswick, Till Death Do Us Pay :
  • Because the statute is so vaguely worded, award decisions are habitually based on case law, the growing mountain of which is a hydra of rulings that point in so many directions that almost any decision can be defended or overturned on appeal, depending on how smart your lawyer is and which precedent he selects to argue your case.

    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)

    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

    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 ----