snake
Americannoun
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snakes
plural
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any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.
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a treacherous person; an insidious enemy.
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Building Trades.
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Also called auger, plumber's snake. (in plumbing) a device for dislodging obstructions in curved pipes, having a head fed into the pipe at the end of a flexible metal band.
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Also called wirepuller. a length of resilient steel wire, for threading through an electrical conduit so that wire can be pulled through after it.
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verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to wind or make (one's course, way, etc.) in the manner of a snake.
to snake one's way through a crowd.
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to drag or haul, especially by a chain or rope, as a log.
noun
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any reptile of the suborder Ophidia (or Serpentes ), typically having a scaly cylindrical limbless body, fused eyelids, and a jaw modified for swallowing large prey: includes venomous forms such as cobras and rattlesnakes, large nonvenomous constrictors (boas and pythons), and small harmless types such as the grass snake
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Also called: snake in the grass. a deceitful or treacherous person
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anything resembling a snake in appearance or action
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(in the European Union) a former system of managing a group of currencies by allowing the exchange rate of each of them only to fluctuate within narrow limits
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a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains
verb
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(intr) to glide or move like a snake
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(tr) to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it
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(tr) (often foll by out) to pull jerkily
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(tr) to move in or follow (a sinuous course)
Usage
What else does snake mean? Snake can be slang for a person who acts in a deceitful, underhanded, or backstabbing way.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of snake
before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English snaca; cognate with Middle Low German snake, Old Norse snākr
Explanation
A snake is a long reptile without legs that moves by undulating, arching the bones in its back and pushing against the ground. A pet snake is easy to care for, unless you're squeamish about feeding it mice. Like other reptiles, snakes are covered in smooth scales. Unlike most, snakes have flexible jaws that allow them to eat things much wider than their own narrow bodies — if you see a big lump in the middle of a garter snake's body, you can be pretty sure it's just eaten a mouse. Because so many people are afraid of snakes (the vast majority of which are not poisonous), the word has also come to mean "treacherous or deceitful person." Snake is a verb as well, meaning "move like a snake."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Weary of venomous snake bites, British authorities put a bounty on dead cobras — but this only incentivized locals to breed more of the snakes, in order to collect even more reward money.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The team compared Tametara with Dinilysia patagonica, another fossil snake discovered in Argentina.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
He does know how to make money selling snake oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
That’s because when a snake bites and punctures the skin and transfers venom into the victim’s body, the venom attacks the skin, soft tissue and connective tissue beneath it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The only way out of that hole was right over the snake and I never did like to run over snakes.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
In February this year, customs officials seized 31 exotic animals from a passenger arriving from Bangkok, including tortoises, iguanas and snakes.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
If you allow people to earn cash from dead snakes, you risk getting a lot more living snakes in the process.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
It was less successful for snakes, lizards, and crocodilians.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Of the 1.3 million schoolchildren evacuated from cities to the countryside, Mr. Scott writes, many “resorted to eating grasshoppers, snakes, and stream crabs as well as tooth-cleaning powder, paint, and crayons.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The tissue paper cutouts boasted little elephants, pigs, cows, snakes, and roosters.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Vines snaked through broken windows on abandoned buildings, street after street.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Dozens of wires snaked around three electronic boxes, one of them connected to an old-school car battery for supplemental power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
The line to see Gomez’s replica of L.A.’s graffiti towers, “Oceanwide Plaza,” snaked through the gallery’s courtyard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Eager concert-goers arrived as early as 06:30 to reserve the best spots, taking selfies and sharing stories under a sea of umbrellas as queues snaked around the stadium.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
He snaked his head closer to study her face and then pulled back, looking confused.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
My trips to and from London and Paris, Lisbon and Rome to test the system over a peak-summer week were free of snaking lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Twentysomethings clad in Deftones and Pikachu tees, Dodgers caps, and beaded bracelets joined the procession, snaking from the dance floor through the bar area and back down again.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Queues have regularly been snaking outside the outside courts wherever Fonseca has played - from Melbourne to Miami, Roland Garros to Rio de Janeiro.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
At the station, chaotic scenes unfolded in the aftermath of the crash, with rescue workers shouting for oxygen tanks as ambulances stood by in a snaking queue, lights flashing.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
I feel a tear snaking down my cheek.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
