Library / English Dictionary

SNAKE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

Synonyms:

ophidian; serpent; snake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

diapsid; diapsid reptile (reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

colubrid; colubrid snake (mostly harmless temperate-to-tropical terrestrial or arboreal or aquatic snakes)

blind snake; worm snake (wormlike burrowing snake of warm regions having vestigial eyes)

constrictor (any of various large nonvenomous snakes that kill their prey by crushing it in its coils)

elapid; elapid snake (any of numerous venomous fanged snakes of warmer parts of both hemispheres)

sea snake (any of numerous venomous aquatic viviparous snakes having a fin-like tail; of warm littoral seas; feed on fish which they immobilize with quick-acting venom)

viper (venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw)

Holonyms ("snake" is a member of...):

Ophidia; Serpentes; suborder Ophidia; suborder Serpentes (snakes)

Derivation:

snaky (resembling a serpent in form)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A long flexible steel coil for dislodging stoppages in curved pipes

Synonyms:

auger; plumber's snake; snake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

trap-and-drain auger (a plumber's snake for clearing a trap and drain)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

closet auger (a snake used to unblock toilets)

auger; plumber's snake; snake (a long flexible steel coil for dislodging stoppages in curved pipes)

Derivation:

snake (move smoothly and sinuously, like a snake)

snake (form a snake-like pattern)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and Cancer

Synonyms:

Hydra; Snake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A tributary of the Columbia River that rises in Wyoming and flows westward; discovered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Synonyms:

Snake; Snake River

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Instance hypernyms:

river (a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek))

Meronyms (parts of "Snake"):

Twin; Twin Falls (a waterfall in the Snake River in southern Idaho)

Holonyms ("Snake" is a part of...):

Gem State; ID; Id.; Idaho (a state in the Rocky Mountains)

Beaver State; OR; Ore.; Oregon; Evergreen State; WA; Wash.; Washington (a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific)

Equality State; WY; Wyo.; Wyoming (a state in the western United States; mountainous in the west and north with the Great Plains in the east)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A deceitful or treacherous person

Synonyms:

snake; snake in the grass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

bad person (a person who does harm to others)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move along a winding path

Example:

The army snaked through the jungle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

meander; thread; wander; weave; wind (to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move smoothly and sinuously, like a snake

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

glide (move smoothly and effortlessly)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Form a snake-like pattern

Example:

The river snakes through the valley

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

curve; twist; wind (extend in curves and turns)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may sting with its venom.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Emerging fungal pathogens pose a greater threat to biodiversity than any other parasitic group, scientists say, causing population declines of amphibians, bats, corals, bees and snakes.

(Amphibians can acquire resistance to deadly fungus, NSF)

The lift was wire, an' it was threshin' around like a snake.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When he had carefully locked the door, he lifted up the cover, and saw a white snake lying on the dish.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

E. tarda is found in the intestinal tracts of snakes and seals and is a causative agent of gastroenteritis in humans.

(Edwardsiella tarda, NCI Thesaurus)

He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his companion like a snake about to spring.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A recombinant form of reptilase identical to or similar to the blood-coagulation factor X activator from the tropical snake Bothrops atrox.

(Batroxobin, NCI Thesaurus)

Turtles, snakes and iguanas can transmit Salmonella bacteria to their owners.

(Animal Diseases and Your Health, NIH)

As the ground under Mare Frigoris shifts, it pushes up wrinkle ridges, which typically snake along the ground for several miles.

(Study Finds New Wrinkles on Earth's Moon, NASA)

Researchers at Ohio University have found the oldest definitive fossil evidence of modern, venomous snakes in Africa.

(Researchers find oldest fossil evidence of modern African venomous snakes, NSF)