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snapdragon
(snæpdrægən)
Word forms: plural snapdragons
countable noun
A snapdragon is a common garden plant with small colourful flowers that can open and shut like a mouth.
snapdragon in British English
(ˈsnæpˌdræɡən)
noun
any of several scrophulariaceous chiefly Old World plants of the genus Antirrhinum, esp A. majus, of the Mediterranean region, having spikes of showy white, yellow, pink, red, or purplish flowers
Also called: antirrhinumWord origin
C16: so named because the flowers, which are claimed to look like a dragon's head,have a 'mouth' which snaps shut if squeezed open and then releasedsnapdragon in American English
(ˈsnæpˌdrægən)
noun
1.
any of a genus (Antirrhinum) of perennial plants of the figwort family, with showy white, yellow, red, or purplish flowers; esp., a common gardenspecies (A. majus) with white, purple, crimson, etc., saclike, two-lipped, closed flowers
2. Obsolete
a.
a game in which raisins or the like are snatched from a bowl of burning brandy
b.
that which is so snatched
Word origin
snap + dragon: from the mouth-shaped flowers; (sense 2) in allusion to a fire-breathing dragonImage ofsnapdragon
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