dragonfly

n. 蜻蜓

名词复数:dragonflies 

drag.on.fly

n.（名词）
【复数】 drag.on.flies
Any of various large insects of the order Odonata or suborder Anisoptera, having a long slender body and two pairs of narrow, net-veined wings that are usually held outstretched while the insect is at rest.Also called Regional darning needle Regional devil`s darning needle Regional ear sewer Regional mosquito hawk Regional skeeter hawk Regional snake doctor Regional snake feeder Regional spindle
蜻蜓：蜻蛉目或不均翅亚目中大型昆虫中一种，具有细长的身体，歇息时通常展开两对狭窄、有网状脉络的翅膀也作 【区域的】 darning needle【区域的】 devil`s darning needle【区域的】 ear sewer【区域的】 mosquito hawk【区域的】 skeeter hawk【区域的】 snake doctor【区域的】 snake feeder【区域的】 spindle

<注释>Regional terms for the dragonfly are numerous, providing good evidence for dialect boundaries in the United States.The greatest variety of terms is to be found in the South,where the most widespread term issnake doctor (a name based on a folk belief that dragonflies take care of snakes).The Midland equivalent issnake feeder. Speakers from the Lower South, on the other hand, are more likely to refer to the same insect as amosquito hawk or, in the South Atlantic states, askeeter hawk. The imagery outside the South alludes more to the insect`s shape than to its behavior or diet:Upper Northern speakers call it adarning needle or a devil`s darning needle ; those in Coastal New Jersey, aspindle ; and Northern Californians, anear sewer.
各地对蜻蜓的许多不同叫法为美国的方言边界提供了很好的依据。对蜻蜓叫法最多的是南部，在那里最常用的是snake doctor （因民间认为蜻蜓照看蛇而得名）。中部有与此相应的叫法：snake feeder。 而南部较南端的人则通常把蜻蜓叫作mosquito hawk ， 南大西洋诸州又把它称为skeeter hawk。 南部以外的其它地方更多地根据蜻蜓的外形而非行为或食物为之命名：北部较北端的人把它叫作darning needle 或 devil`s darning needle ； 新泽西州海岸一带叫spindle ； 而北加利福尼亚人则叫ear sewer