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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--dragoon This week's theme: words with hidden animals. dragoon (druh-GOON) verb tr. To force someone to do something; coerce. [From French dragon (dragon, to dragoon).] This is a good example of how a term transferred from an object to a people to an action. Originally it referred to the firearms, either from the fact that they breathed fire like a dragon or from the shape of the pistol hammer. Eventually it began to be applied to a European cavalryman armed with a carbine. Today the term is used in the sense of forcing someone to do something against his or her will. Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Canadians should not be dragooned into going down the same garden path. We should say no to no-fly lists." Ground Canada's No-fly List Now; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Jan 16, 2007. X-Bonus There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952)

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