Snap-dragon (game) - Meanings

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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