anaconda
1 Americannoun
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a South American boa, Eunectes murinus, that often grows to a length of more than 25 feet (7.6 meters).
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any large boa.
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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.
noun
noun
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 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."
Vocabulary lists containing anaconda
South America - Middle School
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South America - Introductory
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South America - High School
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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.
They also saw an anaconda in the water, he said.
From BBC • May 3, 2025
A team of scientists on location with a film crew in the remote Amazon has uncovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda.
From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024
Böhme remains unconvinced and thinks the move to combine yellow anaconda species is “premature”.
From National Geographic • Feb. 16, 2024
In 2021, researchers discovered two female California Condors were able to reproduce without males while two years earlier, a female anaconda got pregnant by herself in a Boston aquarium.
From Salon • Jun. 10, 2023
“I think if a snake came along, even an anaconda, and you were in harm’s way, that snake wouldn’t stand a chance.”
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
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.
