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snapdragon

 - 3 dictionary results

snap⋅drag⋅on

[snap-drag-uhn]
–noun
1. any plant belonging to the genus Antirrhinum, of the figwort family, esp. A. majus, cultivated for its spikes of showy flowers, each having a corolla supposed to resemble the mouth of a dragon.
2. flapdragon.

Origin:
1565–75; snap + dragon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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snap·drag·on   (snāp'drāg'ən)   
n.  Any of several plants of the genus Antirrhinum, especially the widely cultivated Mediterranean herb A. majus, having showy racemes of two-lipped, variously colored flowers.

[From the imagined resemblance of the flowers to the mouth of a 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

snapdragon 
1573, from fancied resemblance of antirrhinum flowers to a dragon's mouth.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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