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dragoons

 - 3 dictionary results

dra⋅goon

  [druh-goon]
–noun
1. (esp. formerly) a European cavalryman of a heavily armed troop.
2. a member of a military unit formerly composed of such cavalrymen, as in the British army.
3. (formerly) a mounted infantryman armed with a short musket.
–verb (used with object)
4. to set dragoons or soldiers upon; persecute by armed force; oppress.
5. to force by oppressive measures; coerce: The authorities dragooned the peasants into leaving their farms.
Use dragoons in a Sentence
Origin:
1615–25; < F dragon, special use of dragon dragon, applied first to a pistol hammer (so named because of its shape), then to the firearm, then to the troops so armed

Related forms:
dra⋅goon⋅age, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To dragoons
dra·goon   (drə-gōōn', drā-)   
n.  A member of a European military unit trained and armed to fight mounted or on foot.
tr.v.   dra·gooned, dra·goon·ing, dra·goons

  1. To subjugate or persecute by the imposition of troops.

  2. To compel by violent measures or threats; coerce.


[French dragon, carbine, dragoon, from Old French, dragon; see dragon.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dragoon 
1622, from Fr. dragon "carbine, musket," because the guns the soldiers carried "breathed fire" like a dragon. The verb is from 1689, lit. "to force by the agency of dragoons" (which were used by the Fr. kings to persecute Protestants).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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