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Dream dictionary

Dream dictionary: dream meanings from A to Z

Updated

A dream dictionary lists the images people dream about and what dream traditions have said about them. This one has 70 symbols. Each entry reports what named old dream books wrote — Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862), Miller's 1901 dictionary — then what psychologists notice. Search it below, or browse by letter or category.

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Dream symbols A–Z

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

K

L

M

O

P

R

S

T

W

Z

Every symbol page

Dreams about a car crash: what they meanCar crash dreams: being the driver, walking away, witnessing a crash, being thrown from the car, and what Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel said of collisions. Dreams about a dead loved one: what they meanDreams of a dead loved one in Artemidorus and Miller (1901): when they talk to you, seem alive, give or take something, a kiss or hug, tears, a ghost. Dreams about a flood: what they meanFlood dreams in the Golden Wheel (1862), Miller (1901) and Artemidorus: a flood in your house, being swept away, clear or muddy water, higher ground. Dreams about a tsunami: what they meanWhat a tsunami dream means: a giant wave, the sea pulling back, wave after wave, running from it, being swept away and surviving. The old books have no tsunami. Dreams about a wedding dress: what they meanWedding dress dreams in Miller's 1901 dream dictionary: wearing a wedding dress, not finding it, a torn or stained dress, a bridal veil, a dress alone. Dreams about airplanes: what they meanAirplane dreams, from Miller's 1901 "flying machine" to the modern scenes: a plane crash, turbulence, a plane that won't fly, a missed flight, a safe landing. Dreams about an old house: what they meanOld-house dreams in Miller's 1901 dream dictionary: an old house in ruins, your childhood home, an old house still standing, rooms that have changed. Dreams about babies: what they meanBaby dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: a crying baby, holding or breastfeeding a baby, a sick or lost baby, a girl or a boy. Dreams about bears: what they meanBear dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): a bear attacking or chasing you, killing a bear, a white polar bear, a calm bear, a cub. Dreams about bees: what they meanBee dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Artemidorus: a bee sting, a swarm, bees attacking, a beehive, honey, killing a bee. Dreams about being chased: what they meanChase dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: chased by an animal, a monster, a ghost, the devil or the police, and escaping. Dreams about being late: what they meanDreams about being late: for a flight, a train or bus that leaves without you, your own wedding, school or an exam, and being held up again and again. Dreams about being lost: what they meanBeing-lost dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): lost in a forest, a maze, snow or an open plain; separated from someone; finding your way. Dreams about being naked: what they meanNaked dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: naked in public, at work, searching for clothes, undressing, seeing others naked. Dreams about being pregnant: what they meanPregnancy dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: when you're not, a man pregnant, a single woman, someone else, giving birth. Dreams about being shot: what they meanBeing shot in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): dying from the shot, being wounded, hearing gunshots, a shooter you knew, a shot that missed. Dreams about birds: what they meanBird dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): birds flying, birdsong, birds fighting or attacking, a nest, a caged or wounded bird. Dreams about blood: what they meanBlood dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): your own bleeding, a nosebleed, blood on your clothes or hands, vomiting blood. Dreams about cars: what they meanCar dreams in Miller's 1901 dream dictionary and today: brakes failing, not being the driver, a car that won't start, a stolen car, losing your car. Dreams about cats: what they meanCat dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): a cat attacking or scratching you, meowing, a black or white cat, a kitten, killing a cat, a dead cat. Dreams about crocodiles and alligators: what they meanCrocodile and alligator dreams in Artemidorus and Miller (1901): a crocodile attacking you, escaping it, killing it, stepping on its back, still water. Dreams about crying: what they meanCrying in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): crying over someone who died, someone else crying, hearing crying, sobbing, a crying child. Dreams about death: what they meanDeath dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): your own death, someone else dying, a funeral, a grave, being buried alive. Dreams about dogs: what they meanDog dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): a dog biting or attacking you, barking, a friendly dog, black and white dogs, puppies. Dreams about drowning: what they meanDrowning dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: the ocean, reaching shore, being rescued, saving someone, a partner. Dreams about earthquakes: what they meanEarthquake dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): collapsing buildings, your house shaking, surviving, being buried, watching it. Dreams about eggs: what they meanEgg dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862): finding a nest of eggs, eating eggs, broken eggs, rotten eggs, a crate of eggs, bird eggs. Dreams about exams and failing tests: what they meanExam dreams: being unprepared, not finding the room, failing or passing, and dreaming you're back at school years later, with the old books' school readings. Dreams about falling: what they meanFalling dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: falling from a height, off a cliff, into an abyss, waking as you fall, stumbling. Dreams about fighting: what they meanFight and argument dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Artemidorus: fighting with a partner, family, a friend or a stranger, a fistfight, winning, losing. Dreams about fire: what they meanFire dreams in Miller (1901), Artemidorus and the Golden Wheel (1862): your house on fire, putting out a fire, getting burned, a huge blaze, smoke. Dreams about fish: what they meanFish dreams in the Golden Wheel (1862), Miller (1901) and Artemidorus: catching fish, eating fish, many fish, small fish, a goldfish, dead or rotten fish. Dreams about flying: what they meanFlying dreams in Artemidorus and Miller (1901): not being able to stay in the air, flying too high or low, with wings, falling mid-flight, over water. Dreams about frogs: what they meanFrog and toad dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Artemidorus: a big frog, many frogs, croaking, catching or killing a frog. Dreams about gold: what they meanGold dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: finding gold, losing gold, being given gold, a gold mine, turning into gold. Dreams about graves and cemeteries: what they meanGraves and cemeteries in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862): a cemetery, an open or empty grave, digging a grave, your own grave, tombstones. Dreams about hair falling out: what they meanHair-loss dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): hair falling out in clumps, thinning, going bald, cutting it, combing, grey hair. Dreams about horses: what they meanHorse dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: riding, a horse bolting, falling off, a white, black or brown horse, a dead horse. Dreams about houses: what they meanHouse dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): a house on fire, falling apart, not finding home, a basement, new rooms, moving. Dreams about insects and bugs: what they meanInsect dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862): bugs crawling on you, insects in the house, killing insects, a sting, ants, flies, worms. Dreams about keys: what they meanKey dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: losing your keys, finding a key, a broken key, unlocking a door, a keyhole. Dreams about killing someone: what they meanKilling dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: killing in self-defence, a stranger, an animal, a murder, seeing someone killed. Dreams about lice: what they meanLice dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: lice in your hair, on your body, on someone else, many lice, killing or combing them. Dreams about lions: what they meanLion dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): a lion attacking or chasing you, a roaring or tame lion, riding one, a cub, a lioness. Dreams about money: what they meanMoney dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): finding money, losing money, stealing it, being given money, counting money, coins, a full wallet. Dreams about owls: what they meanOwls in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: an owl hooting, an owl flying, an owl in the house, a dead owl, an owl seen by day. Dreams about phones: what they meanPhone dreams, from Miller's 1901 telephone entry to today: getting a call, talking, a bad line, no one answering, an unknown voice, a broken or lost phone. Dreams about pigs: what they meanPig dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Artemidorus: a big fat pig, a thin pig, piglets, a pig in the mud, feeding pigs, eating pork. Dreams about poop: what they meanPoop dreams in Artemidorus and Miller (1901): does it mean money, poop in the house or bed, on your clothes, stepping in it, dung thrown at you, manure. Dreams about rain: what they meanRain dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Artemidorus: heavy rain, gentle rain, getting wet, a leaking roof, rain on the window, a rainbow. Dreams about rats: what they meanRat dreams in the Golden Wheel (1862), Miller (1901) and Artemidorus: rats in the house, many rats, a rat biting you, gnawing, killing, catching or trapping. Dreams about scorpions: what they meanScorpion dreams in Miller (1901) and Artemidorus: false friends and wicked people, killing a scorpion, being stung, many scorpions, a scorpion in your house. Dreams about shoes: what they meanShoe dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862): new shoes, old or worn-out shoes, dirty shoes, losing your shoes, stolen shoes, slippers. Dreams about snakes: what they meanSnake dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): a snake bite, an attack, killing a snake, a huge snake, many snakes, snakes in water. Dreams about spiders: what they meanSpider dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: a spider biting you, a web, killing a spider, a huge spider, many spiders, a tarantula. Dreams about storms: what they meanStorm dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: a storm coming, thunder, lightning, being struck, heavy rain, shelter, a storm at sea. Dreams about teeth falling out: what they meanTeeth dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): all your teeth at once, one tooth, a tooth in your hand, loose, rotten and painless. Dreams about the sea: what they meanSea dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: a calm sea, a stormy sea, a shipwreck, sailing, swimming, watching waves from shore. Dreams about tigers: what they meanTiger dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): a tiger attacking or chasing you, a tiger running away, a caged tiger, a tiger-skin rug. Dreams about toilets: what they meanToilet dreams in Artemidorus, Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): searching for a toilet, a toilet with no door, urinating, wetting the bed. Dreams about tornadoes: what they meanTornado dreams in Miller (1901) and Artemidorus: a tornado coming toward you, caught in one, hitting your house, running or hiding, the calm after. Dreams about turtles: what they meanTurtle and tortoise dreams: what Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read, and the modern reading of a big turtle, a baby turtle, a bite, a turtle swimming. Dreams about water: what they meanWater dreams in Miller (1901), Artemidorus and the Golden Wheel (1862): clear water, muddy water, water in the house, swimming, falling in, crossing. Dreams about weddings: what they meanWedding dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: your own wedding, a partner marrying another, a ring, a guest's view, black. Dreams about wolves: what they meanWolf dreams in Artemidorus, the Golden Wheel (1862) and Miller (1901): a wolf chasing you, attacking you, howling in the night, and killing a wolf. Dreams about your ex: what they meanWhat dreams about your ex mean: getting back together, arguing, your ex with someone new, an ex in the background, and what Miller (1901) said of divorce. Dreams about your late father: what they meanLate-father dreams in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862): talking with him, hugging him, seeing him die, his ghost, a father at peace or turned away. Dreams about your late mother: what they meanDreams of a late mother in Miller (1901) and the Golden Wheel (1862), and today: her hug, talking with her, hearing her call, her tears, her ghost. Dreams about your partner cheating: what they meanCheating dreams in Miller (1901), the Golden Wheel (1862) and Artemidorus: catching your partner, cheating yourself, a rival, jealousy, divorce. Dreams about zombies: what they meanWhat zombie dreams mean: being chased by zombies, fighting them, a zombie apocalypse, someone you love turning, and Artemidorus on the dead rising.

How dream interpretation works on this site

Every symbol page is written from named sources. The tradition section reports what specific old dream books said — Artemidorus's Oneirocritica (2nd century), the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) and Gustavus Miller's dream dictionary (1901) for the English pages — with the book named in the same sentence as its reading.

Other languages are not translations. The German, Polish, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese editions are each written from that culture's own dream books, so the same symbol can carry a different reading in another language — that difference is part of the content.

No page predicts anything. Where an old book called a dream an omen, we report that the book said so; we don't read dreams that way ourselves. The psychology section describes what psychologists notice about a dream image; it is not a diagnosis.

no dream foretells the future

Common questions

What is a dream dictionary?

A dream dictionary is a list of dream images with the meanings dream traditions gave them. Ours has 70 symbols. Each reading is attributed to a named source — an old dream book or a psychologist's view — rather than stated as fact, and none is a prediction.

Which dream dictionary is the most accurate?

No dream dictionary can be accurate about your future, because dreams don't predict it. A useful one tells you where a meaning comes from. Every reading here names its book, and different traditions are shown side by side when they disagree.

How do I find what my dream means?

Search the main image of your dream above — the animal, person, place or event. If the dream had several images, paste the whole dream into the symbol finder, which links every symbol it recognises. Then ask what the image means in your own life right now.

Is this dream dictionary free?

Yes. The dictionary and the symbol finder are free, need no account, and run in your browser. Dreamlock, the iPhone dream journal from the same team, has a free tier and an optional paid plan.