bullsnake

American  

[bool-sneyk] / ˈbʊlˌsneɪk /

Or bull snake

noun

1. any of several large North American constrictors of the genus Pituophis, as the gopher snake and pine snake, that feed chiefly upon small rodents.

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Etymology

Origin of bullsnake

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; bull ¹ + snake

Example Sentences

Fortune said he’d seen plenty of cottonmouth snakes and rattlesnakes in Texas, and he’d once come across a 5-foot bullsnake.

From Washington Post • Jan. 3, 2023

Willie Salas casually pocketed a three-foot bullsnake which was sunning itself on the running board of a parked car, announced to popeyed spectators: "I've got mice in my cellar."

From Time Magazine Archive

There was a big, long bullsnake right there on the henhouse floor.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

When Crawfish gets ready to bile the coffee, he tumbles the biggest bullsnake I'd seen yet outen the coffee-pot onto the grass.

From Wolfville by Lewis, Alfred Henry

E. H. Taylor told me that he once saw a bullsnake swallow an entire clutch of newly laid eggs before the female turtle could cover the nest.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.