| 词汇 | devil-s darning needle |
| 词源 | devil’s darning needle. Thoreau and other New Englanders called the dragonfly the devil’s darning needle and devil’s needle because of its big eerie eyes, which are far out of proportion to its long, needlelike body. But the two colorful expressions yielded to the shorter darning needle over the years. Another colorful Americanism was devil’s riding horse for the praying mantis. It was also called the devil’s horse, cheval du diable, dev- il’s mare, devil’s rear horse, and devil’s war-horse. |
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