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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Dragoon

Dra-goon', n.

noun

n. [Fr. & Sp. drágon, It. dragone, dragon and dragoon, from Lat. draco, dragon; Ger. dragoner, D. dragonder, Dan. & Sw. dragon; Lat. draconarius, standard-bearer;—a name probably given to these light horsemen on account of their rapidity; or perhaps the draconarii of the Romans, upon whose standard there was a dragon, gave rise to it. See DRAGON.

Sense 1. (Mil.) A soldier who is taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot, as occasion may require.

Sense 2. A dragonnade. [Obs.] Bp. Barlow.

Sense 3. A variety of pigeon. Clarke.

Dra-goōn', v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. DRAGOONED; p. pr. & vb. n. DRAGOONING.]

  1. To enslave or reduce to subjection by soldiers.
  2. To persecute by abandoning a place to the rage of soldiers. Johnson.
  3. To compel to submit by violent measures; to force; to harass; to persecute.

The colonies may be influenced to any thing, but they can be dragooned to nothing. Price.