Definition of "dragonfly" [dragonfly]

• Any of various large insects of the order Odonata or suborder Anisoptera, having a long slender body and two pairs of narrow, net-veined wings that are usually held outstretched while the insect is at rest. Also called regionally darner, darning needle, devil's darning needle, ear sewer, mosquito fly, mosquito hawk, needle, skeeter hawk, snake doctor, snake feeder, spindle. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In Newyork, the dragonfly is symbolic of success and happiness."
• "His eyes closed but the lids burned till he opened them again, and when he opened them the dragonfly was there."
• "The bee, the robin, the frog, and the dragonfly are all made using wax that I dyed with black cobalt stain."