boa constrictor

noun

a snake, Constrictor (Boa) constrictor, of tropical America, noted for its large size and its ability to suffocate a prey by coiling around it.

any large snake of the boa family, as the python or anaconda.

Nearby words

Origin of boa constrictor

First recorded in 1800–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for boa constrictor

In the country near Rio there are great snakes called the anaconda, a sort of boa-constrictor on a large scale.
Sketches From My Life|Hobart Pasha
"I sometimes think I'd rather see a boa-constrictor crawling into my room than see Shaw down on the sidewalk," she ended.
The Girl in the Mirror|Elizabeth Garver Jordan
I was sorry we didn't meet a boa-constrictor, so that he might have said his neglected Sunday prayers.
Diplomatic Days|Edith O'Shaughnessy
Financially speaking, Monsieur Grandet was something between a tiger and a boa-constrictor.
Eugenie Grandet|Honore de Balzac

Why doubt, then, that the sea can breed a snake to eclipse the boa-constrictor?
A Simpleton|Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for boa constrictor

boa constrictor

noun

a very large snake, Constrictor constrictor, of tropical America and the Caribbean, that kills its prey by constriction: family Boidae (boas)

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