blacksnake

American  

[blak-sneyk] / ˈblækˌsneɪk /

Or black snake

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.

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

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blacksnake British  

/ 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)

3. a long heavy pliant whip of braided leather or rawhide

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Etymology

Origin of blacksnake

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blacksnake

Helen Menken lashes the audience's breath away with a blacksnake whip in the second-act climax.

From Time Magazine Archive

“We’re in blacksnake habitat. Another reason for Alice and her pig to stop here.”

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Perhaps it was not by chance that his eye wandered to a blacksnake whip hanging on the wall.

From Crooked Trails and Straight by Hutchison, D. C.

The eyes of Zacharias rolled once toward Joseph and then he was gone, running; he returned almost instantly with a seven foot blacksnake, oiled until it glistened.

From The Garden of Eden by Brand, Max

Bill’s blacksnake whip leaped from point to point experimentally, picking up twigs and leaves with disturbing accuracy.

From The Orphan by Mulford, Clarence E.