word of the day
you are getting a twofer here. i have decded to share with you my passion for words...The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is:
dragon's teeth \DRAG-unz-TEETH\ noun
*1 : seeds of strife
2 : wedge-shaped concrete antitank barriers laid in
multiple rows
Example sentence:
The political analyst insisted that the government's policy
was misguided and would only sow dragon's teeth by increasing
poverty and discontent.
Did you know?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's _The Scarlet Letter_, Hester
Prynne's child, Pearl, is said to have "never created a friend,
but seemed always to be sowing broadcast the dragon's teeth,
whence sprung a harvest of armed enemies, against whom she
rushed to battle." In Hawthorne and elsewhere, "dragon's teeth"
alludes to a story involving Cadmus, the legendary Phoenician
hero reputed to have founded Thebes and invented the alphabet.
The tale holds that Cadmus killed a dragon and planted its teeth
in the ground. From the teeth sprang fierce armed men who
battled one another until all were dead but five. These founded
the noblest families of Thebes and helped build its citadel.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
posted by Megan at
9:06 PM
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