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Engineers (originally military but now spreading to roadway and other civil) sometimes use "dragons teeth" which are small concrete pyramids to prevent vehicular access, named presumably from the teeth of the dragon killed by Cadmus, which grew into armed warriors when sown, and influenced by their shape and size.

Are they, though, "dragons' teeth" as if they were teeth from more than one dragon? That would mean that one is a "dragons' tooth" which can't be defended on any grounds. Are they "dragon's teeth" on the grounds that all the original teeth came from one dragon, and sowing the teeth of any other dragon will produce neither warriors nor concrete pyramids? Or are they "dragons teeth" as an idiom unaffected by etymology? The OED has a 1943 citation for the first and a 1944 citation for the second. It also has two earlier quotations that may support the third, but I don't really think Milton's Areopagitica is useful for anti-tank obstacles.

You may or may not wish to know that there is a similar lack of consensus over capital or small D when in the middle of a sentence; and that the term is also used for hinged toothed (literally, but in another sense) metal plates that can be raised to prevent access or lowered to allow it. In any event, I shan't be able to stop worrying about it till we get an answer that the editorial board can all support, so why should you?

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  • The obvious Wikipedia article gives quotes using all of dragon's teeth, dragon teeth and dragons teeth, though it prefers dragon's teeth (uncapitalised).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 18:31
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    1830 “‘Sir, a perseverance in you unjust policy will drive the south to equal desperation. It will ‘SOW DRAGON’S TEETH amongst us, that will spring up in armed men.’”—‘The Times’ (Middlesex, London, England), 18 June, page 3
    – user 66974
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 18:40
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    Yes; Ken Greenwald over on WordWizard came up with quite a few quotes pre-dating the military usage. All DRAGON'S (case obscured).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 18:45

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Indeed, as you so reference, the OED provides 5 sample sentences with various iterations of (D)dragon('s)(s) teeth:

  • 1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 4 They are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous Dragons teeth.

  • 1853 J. B. Marsden Hist. Early Puritans (ed. 2) 290 Jesuits..sowed the dragon's teeth which sprung up into the hydras of
    rebellion and apostasy.

  • 1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle Service Slang 28 Dragon's teeth, a form of anti-tank obstacle.

  • 1944 Times 28 Nov. 4/2 Extensive minefields, road blocks, dragons' teeth, tank ditches, [etc.].

  • 1971 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 18 Feb. 671/1 ‘Dragon's teeth’, that is to say, sharp hinged teeth which..protrude from the ground but can be
    made to sink into it for a car to pass.

I agree 1644's punctuation may not be an example of modernity. As for the mid sentence 'D', my sense is that is is un-necessary. As Wikipedia uses primarily 'dragon's teeth', as do both the 1944 and 1971 citations, that would be my vote too. (ecp: capital D at beginning of sentence)

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  • Note that all your capitalised versions except the first may be title-induced (compare Extensive).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 19:02
  • @EdwinAshworth I concur
    – lbf
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 19:34
  • What were those early Puritans doing, mixing mythologies?
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Oct 23, 2019 at 19:54

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