blacksnake

or black snake

[ blak-sneyk ]

noun
  1. Also called black racer. a blackish racer, Coluber constrictor subspecies, of the eastern U.S., that grows to a length of 6 feet (1.8 meters).

  2. any of various other snakes of a black or very dark color.

  1. a heavy, tapering, flexible whip of braided cowhide or the like.

Origin of blacksnake

1
An Americanism dating back to 1625–35; black + snake

Words Nearby blacksnake

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blacksnake in a sentence

  • Anyway, I am going to cure her of the sleeping sickness, even if I have to invest in a blacksnake whip.

  • And the teamster pranced out and brandished his blacksnake whip menacingly.

  • With a couple of effortless bounds, the blackcat reached the trunk and slipped up it with the ease and speed of a blacksnake.

    Wild Folk | Samuel Scoville
  • Born and reared in the rough timber-grown hills of Kentucky, he was as slim and active as a blacksnake.

    Riddle of the Storm | Roy J. Snell
  • Let us be strong, and punish the venomous blacksnake, as we punished the big soldier long ago.

    Little Oskaloo | Thomas Chalmers Harbaugh

British Dictionary definitions for blacksnake

blacksnake

/ (ˈblækˌsneɪk) /


noun
  1. any of several Old World black venomous elapid snakes, esp Pseudechis porphyriacus (Australian blacksnake)

  2. any of various dark nonvenomous snakes, such as Coluber constrictor (black racer)

  1. US and Canadian a long heavy pliant whip of braided leather or rawhide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012