Definition of "dragon"

dragon¹

/ˈdɹæɡən/

noun
plural dragons
1. A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature.
  1. In European mythologies, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like body, often a monster with fiery breath.
    Quotations
    But as every well-brought-up prince was expected to kill a dragon, and rescue a princess, the dragons grew fewer and fewer till it was often quite hard for a princess to find a dragon to be rescued from.
    c. 1900, Edith Nesbit, The Last of the Dragons
  2. In Eastern Asian mythologies, a large, snake-like monster with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually beneficent.
    Quotations
    These tapestries were magnificently figured with golden dragons; and as the serpentine bodies gleamed and shimmered in the increasing radiance, each dragon, I thought, intertwined its glittering coils more closely with those of another.
    1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter XIII, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu
2. An animal of various species that resemble a dragon in appearance:
  1. (obsolete) A very large snake; a python.
  2. Any of various agamid lizards of the genera Draco, Physignathus or Pogona.
  3. A Komodo dragon.
3. (astronomy, with definite article, often capitalized) The constellation Draco.
  Quotations
  My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my nativity was vnder Vrsa Maior.
  c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
4. (derogatory) A fierce and unpleasant woman; a harridan.
5. (UK, slang, rare, derogatory) An unattractive woman.
6. (with definite article, often capitalized) The (historical) Chinese empire or the People's Republic of China.
7. (figuratively) Something very formidable or dangerous.
8. A type of playing-tile (red dragon, green dragon, white dragon) in the game of mahjong.
9. A luminous exhalation from marshy ground, seeming to move through the air like a winged serpent.
10. (military, historical) A short musket hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt; so called from a representation of a dragon's head at the muzzle.
  Quotations
  our dragoons were so denominated because they were armed with dragons, that is, with short muskets, which spouted fire like dragons, and had the head of a dragon wrought upon their muzzle
  1886, Charles Gould, Mythical Monsters
11. (computing, rare) A background process similar to a daemon.
  Quotations
  Daemons and Dragons. The print spooler is an example of a DAEMON, a program that executes in the background and provides a service […] Strictly speaking, a dragon is a daemon that is not invoked explicitly but is always there, waiting in the background […]
  1995, Harley Hahn, The UNIX Companion, page 420
  Many of the postmaster functions are actually handled by computer software such as dragons and mailer daemons.
  2018, J. K. Petersen, Fiber Optics Illustrated Dictionary
12. A variety of carrier pigeon.

dragon²

/ˈdɹæɡən/

noun
plural dragons
1. (slang) A man who does drag or crossdresses, or sometimes by extension a male-to-female transgender person.
  Quotations
  Ballard felt her phone vibrate in her hand and turned away from the nurse. She saw a return text from Mendez. She read his answer out loud to Jenkins. “‘Ramona Ramone, dragon. Real name Ramón Gutierrez. Had him in here a couple weeks back. Priors longer than his pre-op dick.’ Nice way of putting it.” “Considering his own dimensions,” Jenkins said. Drag queens, cross-dressers, and transgenders were all generally referred to as dragons in vice. No distinctions were made. It wasn’t nice but it was accepted.
  May 2017 Michael Connelly shares excerpt from The Late Show
  My favorite part was probably the ‘de-dragging.’ Taking the Dragon off (that’s what I call her) is always my favorite. In all honesty, the entire experience was amazing and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Being felt up by Michael Silas wasn’t bad either...
  October 2017 Drag Star VIZIN is back with new single Blasting News
  Yes. Butt shots. Everybody can't afford lipo and fat transfers. Especially dragons. So if they want to pay me top dollar to pump their ass up that's what I'm gonna do, and you've benefited from it.
  December 2017 Miss Lawrence as Miss Bruce, "Climax" Star episode 21