Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various large insects of the order Odonata or suborder Anisoptera, having a long slender body and two pairs of narrow, net-veined wings that are usually held outstretched while the insect is at rest. Also called regionally darner, darning needle, devil's darning needle, ear sewer, mosquito fly, mosquito hawk, needle, skeeter hawk, snake doctor, snake feeder, spindle.
Wiktionary
- n. An insect of the suborder Anisoptera with four long transparent wings held perpendicular to a long body.
WordNet 3.0
- n. slender-bodied non-stinging insect having iridescent wings that are outspread at rest; adults and nymphs feed on mosquitoes etc.
Etymologies
- From dragon + fly. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“In Newyork, the dragonfly is symbolic of success and happiness.”
“The bee, the robin, the frog, and the dragonfly are all made using wax that I dyed with black cobalt stain.”
Kater’s Art » Blog Archive » Wall Mosaic 1: Girl with Scythe
“His eyes closed but the lids burned till he opened them again, and when he opened them the dragonfly was there.”
“The city of Calio is home to all the technological advances created by Rendor, mostly in the form of airships and the smaller ingenious flying craft-- known as the dragonfly-- that patrol the skies against the mostly forgotten threat of the Skylords.”
“We would not call a dragonfly eye and a human eye homologous—they seem so different, in so many ways, and the evidence suggests that our last common ancestor was eyeless, with little more than photosensitive spots.”
“Seeing and flying like a dragonfly could be the key to developing highly versatile micro-aerial vehicles.”
“The extraordinary flying ability of the dragonfly has been the subject of ongoing research by Richard Berry from the Centre for Visual Sciences at Australian National University (ANU).”
“Slightly below the thorax on both sides of the dragonfly are a pair of hind wings also used for flight.”
“On top of this the core of ISS is not "dragonfly" style like MIR - it cannot be arbitrarily reconfigured.”
“That is the word for "dragonfly" in Chichewa, my son Vasco's native language.”
The Huffington Post: Cathleen Falsani: God Nods: Girl With the Dragonfly Tattoo
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dragonfly’.
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Animal Identity Crisis
Creatures that are described in terms of other animals. Usual rules apply: look at the entries and you'll get the hang of it :-) I could say 'no madeupicals' but, jeeperz, I'd have to put myself on...
squirrel fish, birddog, whale shark, leopard seal, rhinoceros beetle, parrotfish, lion tamarin, bumblebee bat, cow sharks, tiger moth, dogfish, smoothhound shark and 140 more...
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Things with wings
For fanciful birds, see reesetee's •Open List: Flights of Fancy.
For chickens, see Chickens.
For birds endemic to the United States and/or North America, see reesetee's Mo...airplane, dragonfly, pegasus, butterfly, Buffalo, robot bomb, periodical cicada, caduceus, angel, those flying monk..., cherub, housefly and 52 more...
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T-shirt Animals
A list of animals popular enough that they have consistently appeared on t-shirt designs. Handmade hipster apparel totally counts.
three wolf moon, unicorn with rainbow, dolphin, gecko, red-eyed tree frog, turtle, Care Bear, dragon, horse, dragonfly, hummingbird, whale and 3 more...
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Avatar Kingdom
a list of unique creatures in the Avatar: The Last Airbender world.
platypus bear, armadillo bear, skunk bear, gopher bear, dragon, dragonfly, four-flippered pe..., winged lemur, serpent, singing groundhog, turtle duck, turducken and 34 more...
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Three is Compoundy.
Words that are made up of three words, be it intended for the meaning, or coincidentally (as in "attendance").
nonetheless, together, insofar, nevertheless, attendance, notwithstanding, hitherto, heretofore, whosoever, inasmuch, benjamin, psychotherapist and 40 more...
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More fun spoonerized
(List the word or phrase, not the spoonerism.)
full-blown, teenybopper, bootlicker, jellybeans, portfolio, hunting ground, badminton, parking meter, popcorn, dump truck, blood and thunder, flashy pen and 10 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Northern Territory
The Northern Territory of Australia. Suggestions welcome.
win-a-croc, angurugu, intervention, mala, qantas, ochre, nitmiluk, the ghan, wet season, dry season, nyinyikay, dragonfly and 94 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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katiad's Words
exquisite, obnoxious, noxious, extravaganza, whirlwind, whirling, wild, spinster, existential, chaos, zephyr, blasphemy and 310 more...
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Compounds That Look Freakish
You know who you are, freakish compounds. Though very useful, some of these words just don't seem right together--or, their meanings are so far from what the two (or more) component words suggest t...
nightjar, bullfinch, grassquit, bananaquit, ovenbird, waxwing, stonechat, wheatear, bushtit, wrentit, starthroat, godwit and 158 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Some Words I Love to Use
arcology, strumpet, crux, confected, pedant, bluestocking, cogitation, incensed, lovecraftian, cygnet, dactyl, adytum and 539 more...
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KaeZoo's Words
flingers, unhinged, driven, flanked, arboreal, venerable, endearing, iconoclastic, fletcher, competent, fireproof, cavernous and 215 more...
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Flora and Fauna
poa annua, pooka, vole, bestiary, popple, turgor, starling, sharpy, copse, coreopsis, clove, corvid and 348 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dragonfly.

fbharjo also see darner and other d-f names 'dragonfly names' list May 20, 2011
hernesheir Scots horse-stang. May 20, 2011
E. S This word actually has 4 words in it! Mar 18, 2010
chained_bear I had no idea these animals were so ancient. "They evolved during the Mississippian Period, about 360-325 million years ago. Huge dragonflies with wingspans up to 27.5 inches (70 cm) existed during the Mesozoic Era (when the dinosaurs lived)." (enchantedlearning.com) Aug 29, 2008