drake
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
- 02 C2 Proficiency
a dragon, especially in old stories or poems.
a dragon or legendary serpent-like creature.
Simple“The old poem tells of a fire-breathing drake guarding a pile of gold.”
In context“The knight descended into the cavern to confront the sleeping drake, whose scales were said to be harder than tempered steel.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
a type of Viking warship with a dragon's head on the front.
a Viking longship or galley, often decorated with a dragon-headed prow.
Simple“The Viking drake sailed into the harbour with its red sails high.”
In context“Historical accounts describe the terror inspired by the sight of a Norse drake appearing on the horizon during the raiding season.”
Synonymslongshipgalley
“T he first serious effort to detect radio signals from alien civilisations in deep space was made in 1960, when the American astronomer Frank Drake conducted an experiment he named Project Ozma.”
* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon." * As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.