Phrase guide

tickle the dragon's tail

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To do something that has a risk of going catastrophically wrong.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Climbing so close to an erupting volcano was tickling the dragon's tail.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To annoy an irritable person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Don't tell him the headline's misprinted; you don't want to tickle the dragon's tail.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To bring two subcritical masses close together in order to find the edge of criticality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: nuclear physics

Examples

  • The laboratory head tickles the dragon's tail whenever we have guests as a show of machismo.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the obvious risk of tickling a dragon's tail. In physics, it was coined by American physicist Richard Feynman to describe the experiments of Louis Slotin at Los Alamos National Laboratory.