Adjacent Words

Dragoon definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DRAGOON, n. [G., L, an ensign bearer; dragon; an appellation given to horsemen, perhaps for their rapidity or fierceness.] A soldier or musketeer who serves on horseback or on foot, as occasion may require. Their arms are a sword, a musket and a bayonet.
DRAGOON, v.t.
1. To persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of soldiers.
2. To enslave or reduce to subjection by soldiers.
3. To harass; to persecute; to compel to submit by violent measures; to force. [This is the more usual sense.]
The colonies may be influenced to any thing, but they can de dragooned to nothing.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed cavalrymen v
1: compel by coercion, threats, or crude means; "They sandbagged him to make dinner for everyone" [syn: dragoon, sandbag, railroad]
2: subjugate by imposing troops

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: French dragon dragon, dragoon, from Middle French Date: 1604 1. a member of a European military unit formerly composed of heavily armed mounted troops 2. cavalryman II. transitive verb Date: 1689 1. to subjugate or persecute by harsh use of troops 2. to force into submission or compliance especially by violent measures

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a cavalryman (orig. a mounted infantryman armed with a carbine). 2 a rough fierce fellow. 3 a variety of pigeon. --v.tr. 1 (foll. by into) coerce into doing something, esp. by use of strong force. 2 persecute, esp. with troops. Etymology: orig. = carbine (thought of as breathing fire) f. F dragon DRAGON

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dragoon Dra*goon", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dragooned; p. pr. & vb. n. Dragooning.] 1. To harass or reduce to subjection by dragoons; to persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of soldiers. 2. To compel submission by violent measures; to harass; to persecute. The colonies may be influenced to anything, but they can be dragooned to nothing. --Price. Lewis the Fourteenth is justly censured for trying to dragoon his subjects to heaven. --Macaulay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dragoon Dra*goon" (dr[.a]*g[=oo]n"), n. [F. dragon dragon, dragoon, fr. L. draco dragon, also, a cohort's standard (with a dragon on it). The name was given from the sense standard. See Dragon.] 1. ((Mil.) Formerly, a soldier who was taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot; now, a mounted soldier; a cavalry man. 2. A variety of pigeon. --Clarke. Dragoon bird (Zo["o]l.), the umbrella bird.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dragoons, dragooning, dragooned) If someone dragoons you into doing something that you do not want to do, they persuade you to do it even though you try hard not to agree. ...the history professor who had dragooned me into taking the exam... VERB: V n into -ing/n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Horse-soldier, cavalier, equestrian, mounted soldier, chasseur. II. v. a. Compel, force, drive, persecute, harass, harry.

Moby Thesaurus

blackjack, bludgeon, bluster, bluster out of, browbeat, bulldoze, bully, bullyrag, cavalryman, coerce, cossack, cow, cuirassier, demoralize, harass, heavy dragoon, hector, hijack, huff, hussar, intimidate, lance, lancer, ruffle, shanghai, spahi, steamroller, strong-arm, systematically terrorize, terrorize, threaten, trooper, uhlan, use violence