different between dragonfly vs hummingbird

English

Alternative forms

• dragon-fly

Etymology

From dragon +? fly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?æ??n?fla?/

Noun

dragonfly (plural dragonflies)

1. An insect of the suborder Epiprocta or, more strictly, the infraorder Anisoptera, having four long transparent wings held perpendicular to a long body when perched.

Synonyms

• (insect of infraorder Anisoptera): adderbolt, darner, darning needle, devil's darning needle, dining needle, ear sewer, horse-stinger, mosquito fly, mosquito hawk, needle, skeeter hawk, snake doctor, snake feeder, spindle

Hypernyms

• odonate, sewing needle

Translations

See also

• Anisoptera
• damselfly
• Odonata

English

Alternative forms

• humming bird, humming-bird

Etymology

From humming (noun) +? bird, in reference to the humming sound made by the rapidly moving wings.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?h?m???b?d/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?h?m???b??d/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /?h?m?n?b??d/

Noun

hummingbird (plural hummingbirds)

1. Any of various small American birds in the family Trochilidae that have the ability to hover.
   • 1857 Thoreau, Henry David, journal entry, May 29, 1857. From Thoreau on Birds: notes on New England birds from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau, Boston: Beacon Press, 1993, p238. (Originally published as the anthology Thoreau's bird-lore, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910, edited by Francis H. Allen.)

     Soon I hear the low all-pervading hum of an approaching hummingbird circling above the rock, [...]

Related terms

Translations

See also

• snowcap