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Glite Dictionary
dreamcatcher

dreamcatcher

2 4.4
A handmade hoop with a net and feathers hung above a bed to keep bad dreams away
  • noun
  • /ˈdriːmˌkætʃər/
: atrapasueños
  • She hung the dreamcatcher above her bed to protect her from bad dreams.
  • hung up the dreamcatcher

I I would say a dreamcatcher.

Examples

  • Oh, she made a dreamcatcher.

    The Switch (2010)

  • Then we went outside, I showed them the dreamcatcher and they told me they never seen anything like this.

  • My worst dreams that I've had in recent memory are all at your place, and it's all with the dreamcatcher right next to my head.

  • I used to have a pair of dreamcatcher earrings.

    Blog text (8)

  • Did you sell any dreamcatchers on Etsy or whatever it is that you do?

    Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

  • The next one is this kind of dripping rainbow dreamcatcher watercolour thing and it's pretty kind of standard.

  • One day when I wore them to school, my history teacher was staring at my earlobes and mumbled, "Huh, dreamcatchers."

    Blog text (8)

  • Every night, he looked at the dreamcatcher and felt safer as he fell asleep.

  • They crafted a beautiful dreamcatcher with colorful feathers and beads.

Surface Forms

dreamcatcher singular
dreamcatchers plural

Morphology

dreamcatcher = dream + catcher (transparent) = dream + catch + er

The word is a straightforward compound 'dream' + 'catcher' (where 'catcher' is catch + -er), so learners can infer 'a thing that catches dreams'.

Etymology

Dreamcatcher comes from Native American Ojibwe tradition, where people made a small hoop with a woven web to catch bad dreams like a spider's web. So dream + catcher is easy to remember: it is an object said to 'catch' bad dreams and protect sleep.