adderbolt

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From adder (“venomous snake”) +‎ bolt (“arrow”).

Noun[edit]

adderbolt (plural adderbolts)

  1. (now UK dialectal) A dragonfly. [from 15th c.]
    • 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXXIX:
      Other Animals I observ'd to have yet a greater number, as the Dragon-Fly or Adderbolt […].
    • 1742, John Martyn, Ephraim Chambers, transl., The Philosophical History and Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, volume II, page 355:
      This philosopher has also found an insect fish, which transforms into an adder-bolt.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=adderbolt&oldid=77773424"