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• anaconda
  anaconda

  noun

  a South American boa, Eunectes murinus, that often grows to a length of more than 25 feet (7.6 meters).
• Anaconda
  Anaconda

  noun

  a city in SW Montana.

anaconda

¹ American  

[an-uh-kon-duh] / ˌæn əˈkɒn də /

noun

1. a South American boa, Eunectes murinus, that often grows to a length of more than 25 feet (7.6 meters).

2. any large boa.

3. Cards. a variety of poker in which each player is dealt seven cards, discards two, and turns up one of the remaining five before each betting round.

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Anaconda ² American  

[an-uh-kon-duh] / ˌæn əˈkɒn də /

noun

1. a city in SW Montana.

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anaconda British  

/ ˌænəˈkɒndə /

noun

1. a very large nonvenomous arboreal and semiaquatic snake, Eunectes murinus, of tropical South America, which kills its prey by constriction: family Boidae (boas)

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Etymology

Origin of anaconda

1760–70; misapplication of a name originally used for a snake of Sri Lanka; earlier anacandaia < Sinhalese henakandayā kind of snake

Explanation

An anaconda is an enormous South American boa snake that's a great swimmer. Adult anacondas are large enough to prey on deer, capybaras, and even young jaguars. Anacondas spend most of their time in swamps and rivers. They are non-venomous, constrictor snakes that suffocate their prey and eat it whole. The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world by weight, with females growing up to 500 pounds and about 17 feet long. It is one of very few snakes that is theoretically big enough to eat a human — but that has never happened. Etymologists have various theories about the origin of the word anaconda, including the Tamil anaikkonda, "having killed an elephant."