flying lizard n 1: any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body [syn: dragon, flying dragon, flying lizard]

Dragon \Drag"on\, n. [F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. ?, prob. fr. ?, ?, to look (akin to Skr. dar? 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. The dragons which appear in early paintings and sculptures are invariably representations of a winged crocodile. --Fairholt. Note: 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. Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. -- Ps. lxxiv. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. -- Ps. xci. 13. He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. --Rev. xx. 2. 2. A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman. --Johnson. 3. (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco. 4. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent. 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. 6. (Zo["o]l.) 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. 7. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of carrier pigeon. 8. (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms. Note: Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a dragon. Dragon arum (Bot.), the name of several species of Aris[ae]ma, a genus of plants having a spathe and spadix. See Dragon root(below). Dragon fish (Zo["o]l.), the dragonet. Dragon fly (Zo["o]l.), any insect of the family Libellulid[ae]. They have finely formed, large and strongly reticulated wings, a large head with enormous eyes, and a long body; -- called also mosquito hawks. Their larv[ae] are aquatic and insectivorous. Dragon root (Bot.), an American aroid plant ({Aris[ae]ma Dracontium}); green dragon. Dragon's blood, a resinous substance obtained from the fruit of several species of Calamus, esp. from C. Rotang} and C. Draco, growing in the East Indies. A substance known as dragon's blood is obtained by exudation from Drac[ae]na 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 Gr[ae]corum}. 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 ?. 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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 ?. See Dragon's head (above). Dragon's wort (Bot.), a plant of the genus Artemisia ({A. dracunculus}). Dragon tree (Bot.), a West African liliaceous tree ({Drac[ae]na Draco}), yielding one of the resins called dragon's blood. See Drac[ae]na. 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.

Flying army (Mil.) a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy in continual alarm. --Farrow. Flying artillery (Mil.), artillery trained to rapid evolutions, -- the men being either mounted or trained to spring upon the guns and caissons when they change position. Flying bridge, Flying camp. See under Bridge, and Camp. Flying buttress (Arch.), a contrivance for taking up the thrust of a roof or vault which can not be supported by ordinary buttresses. It consists of a straight bar of masonry, usually sloping, carried on an arch, and a solid pier or buttress sufficient to receive the thrust. The word is generally applied only to the straight bar with supporting arch. Flying colors, flags unfurled and waving in the air; hence: To come off with flying colors, to be victorious; to succeed thoroughly in an undertaking. Flying doe (Zo["o]l.), a young female kangaroo. Flying dragon. (a) (Zo["o]l.) See Dragon, 6. (b) A meteor. See under Dragon. Flying Dutchman. (a) A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail the seas till the day of judgment. (b) A spectral ship. Flying fish. (Zo["o]l.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary. Flying fox (Zo["o]l.), the colugo. Flying frog (Zo["o]l.), an East Indian tree frog of the genus Rhacophorus, having very large and broadly webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to make very long leaps. Flying gurnard (Zo["o]l.), a species of gurnard of the genus Cephalacanthus or Dactylopterus, with very large pectoral fins, said to be able to fly like the flying fish, but not for so great a distance. Note: Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is Cephalacanthus volitans. Flying jib (Naut.), a sail extended outside of the standing jib, on the flying-jib boom. Flying-jib boom (Naut.), an extension of the jib boom. Flying kites (Naut.), light sails carried only in fine weather. Flying lemur. (Zo["o]l.) See Colugo. Flying level (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over the course of a projected road, canal, etc. Flying lizard. (Zo["o]l.) See Dragon, n. 6. Flying machine, an apparatus for navigating the air; a form of balloon. -- Flying mouse (Zo["o]l.), the opossum mouse ({Acrobates pygm[ae]us}), of Australia. Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying squirrels. -- Flying party (Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an enemy. -- Flying phalanger (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of small marsuupials of the genera Petaurus and Belideus, of Australia and New Guinea, having lateral folds like those of the flying squirrels. The sugar squirrel ({B. sciureus}), and the ariel ({B. ariel}), are the best known; -- called also squirrel petaurus and flying squirrel. See Sugar squirrel}. -- Flying pinion, the fly of a clock. -- Flying sap (Mil.), the rapid construction of trenches (when the enemy's fire of case shot precludes the method of simple trenching), by means of gabions placed in juxtaposition and filled with earth. -- Flying shot, a shot fired at a moving object, as a bird on the wing. -- Flying spider. (Zo["o]l.) See Ballooning spider. -- Flying squid (Zo["o]l.), an oceanic squid ({Ommastrephes, or Sthenoteuthis, Bartramii}), abundant in the Gulf Stream, which is able to leap out of the water with such force that it often falls on the deck of a vessel. -- Flying squirrel (Zo["o]l.) See Flying squirrel, in the Vocabulary. -- Flying start, a start in a sailing race in which the signal is given while the vessels are under way. -- Flying torch (Mil.), a torch attached to a long staff and used for signaling at night.

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