Definition of 'dragonfly'
COBUILD frequency band
dragonfly
Word forms: plural dragonflies
countable noun
Dragonflies are brightly colored insects with long, thin bodies and two sets of wings. Dragonflies are often found near slow-moving water.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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COBUILD frequency band
dragonfly in American English
nounWord forms: plural dragonflies
any of an order (Odonata) or suborder (Anisoptera) of large insects, harmless to people, having narrow, transparent, net-veined wings and feeding mostly on flies, mosquitoes, etc. while in flight
see also damselflyWebster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th Digital Edition. Copyright © 2025 HarperCollins Publishers.
COBUILD frequency band
dragonfly in American English
(ˈdræɡənˌflai)
nounWord forms: plural -flies
USAGE 1. the dragonfly is also called a darning needle and a devil’s darning needle in the Northern and Western U.S. In the Northern U.S. it is also called a sewing needle. In the Midland U.S. it is called a snake feeder, in the South Midland and Southern U.S. a snake doctor, and in the Southern U.S., esp. in the Southern Coastal areas, it is called a mosquito hawk or a skeeter hawk. spindle is also in use, chiefly in New Jersey and in the Delaware Valley. ear sewer is in older use in some scattered regional areas1.
any of numerous stout-bodied, nonstinging insects of the order Odonata (suborder Anisoptera), the species of which prey on mosquitoes and other insects and are distinguished from the damselflies by having the wings outstretched rather than folded when at rest
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1620–30; dragon + fly2]COBUILD frequency band
dragonfly in British English
nounWord forms: plural -flies
1.
any predatory insect of the suborder Anisoptera, having a large head and eyes, a long slender body, two pairs of iridescent wings that are outspread at rest, and aquatic larvae: order Odonata
See also damselfly2.
any other insect of the order Odonata
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Examples of 'dragonfly' in a sentence dragonfly
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In other languages
dragonfly
British English: dragonfly
/ˈdræɡənˌflaɪ/ NOUN
A dragonfly is a brightly coloured insect with a long thin body and two sets of wings.
- American English: dragonfly /ˈdrægənflaɪ/
- Arabic: يَعْسُوب
- Brazilian Portuguese: libélula
- Chinese: 蜻蜓
- Croatian: vilin konjic
- Czech: vážka
- Danish: guldsmed
- Dutch: libel
- European Spanish: libélula
- Finnish: sudenkorento
- French: libellule
- German: Libelle
- Greek: λιβελούλα
- Italian: libellula
- Japanese: トンボ
- Korean: 잠자리 곤충
- Norwegian: øyenstikker
- Polish: ważka
- European Portuguese: libélula
- Romanian: libelulă
- Russian: стрекоза
- Spanish: libélula
- Swedish: trollslända
- Thai: แมลงปอ
- Turkish: yusufçuk
- Ukrainian: бабка
- Vietnamese: con chuồn chuồn
