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.

Origin of boa constrictor

First recorded in 1800–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for boa constrictor

Historical Examples of boa constrictor

He had always thought it incredible that the boa-constrictor should be larger than any sea-snake.
A Simpleton
Charles Reade
Why doubt, then, that the sea can breed a snake to eclipse the boa-constrictor?
A Simpleton
Charles Reade
“And a giraffe, a crocodile, and a boa-constrictor,” said Jack.
Off to the Wilds
George Manville Fenn
“I told you that you had boa-constrictor habits,” she gasped.
Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence
Alice B. Emerson
We are not bound, like the boa-constrictor, to swallow all or none.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine--Volume 62, No. 386, December, 1847
Various

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