Flying \Fly"ing\, a. [From Fly, v. i.]
Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or
rapidly; intended for rapid movement.
[1913 Webster]
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 (Zool.), a young female kangaroo.
Flying dragon.
(a) (Zool.) 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. (Zool.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary.
Flying fox (Zool.), see Flying fox in the vocabulary.
Flying frog (Zool.), either of two East Indian tree frogs
of the genus Rhacophorus (Rhacophorus nigrapalmatus
and Rhacophorus pardalis), having very large and broadly
webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to
make very long leaps.
Flying gurnard (Zool.), 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. (Zool.) See Colugo.
Flying level (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over
the course of a projected road, canal, etc.
Flying lizard. (Zool.) See Dragon, n. 6.
Flying machine, any apparatus for navigating through the
air, especially a heavier-than-air machine. -- Flying
mouse (Zool.), the opossum mouse (Acrobates pygm[ae]us), a
marsupial of Australia. Called also feathertail glider.
Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying
squirrels, and a featherlike tail. -- Flying party
(Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an
enemy. -- Flying phalanger (Zool.), 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 (Belideus sciureus), and the ariel (Belideus
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. (Zool.) See
Ballooning spider. -- Flying squid (Zool.), an oceanic
squid (Ommastrephes Bartramii syn. 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 (Zool.) 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.
[1913 Webster]
|
dragon \drag"on\ (dr[a^]g"[u^]n), n. [F. dragon, L. draco, fr.
Gr. dra`kwn, prob. fr. de`rkesqai, dra`kein, to look (akin to
Skr. dar[,c] 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.
[1913 Webster]
The dragons which appear in early paintings and
sculptures are invariably representations of a
winged crocodile. --Fairholt.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the
waters. -- Ps. lxxiv.
13.
[1913 Webster]
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the
young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample
under feet. -- Ps. xci.
13.
[1913 Webster]
He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years. --Rev. xx. 2.
[1913 Webster]
2. A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman. --Johnson.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere
figured as a dragon; Draco.
[1913 Webster]
4. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move
through the air as a winged serpent.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Zool.) 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.
[1913 Webster]
7. (Zool.) A variety of carrier pigeon.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a
charge in a coat of arms.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in
the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic
of, a dragon.
[1913 Webster]
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 (Zool.), the dragonet.
Dragon fly (Zool.), 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 Calamus
Rotang and Calamus 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 (Zool.), 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
(Artemisia 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.
[1913 Webster]
|