Meanings
The words snap-dragon and flap-dragon can refer to the game, the raisins used in the game, or the bowl with brandy and raisins. Other senses of flap-dragon are that of something worthless or trivial, as in "A Flap-dragon for your service, Sir!" from William Congreve's The Way of the World, and "a contemptuous term for a Dutchman or German". In The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare used it as a verb, to describe a moment when a ship at sea is instantly swallowed up by a storm.
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Famous quotes containing the word meanings:
“Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
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—Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980)
“Man cannot bury his meanings so deep in his book, but time and like-minded men will find them. Plato had a secret doctrine, had he? What secret can he conceal from the eyes of Bacon? of Montaigne? of Kant? Therefore, Aristotle said of his works, “They are published and not published.””
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