cerastes
Americannoun
-
cerastes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cerastes
1768; < New Latin < Greek kerástēs literally, something horned, equivalent to kerat- stem of kéras horn + -tēs noun suffix; earlier in sense “asp,” Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin, as above
Vocabulary lists containing cerastes
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.
The rattlesnake Crotalus cerastes is venomous to humans.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2022
A dangerous serpent this; one never sees him, or hears him speak, or observes the dark glitter of his eye, without being reminded of a cerastes lythely rustling through the dry grass towards its victim.
From St. Winifred's, or The World of School by H. C. (Harold C.) Earnshaw
Judge his anguish then, and my disappointment, when, seven days before her twenty-first birthday, she was bitten by a cerastes, and her body died.
From Weapons of Mystery by Joseph Hocking
The hieroglyphs following seem to be zigzag, line, semicircle, zigzag, hoe, mouth, mouth, cerastes, semicircle, two arms united, line, eye, zigzag, cerastes.
From Cleopatra's Needle A History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hieroglyphics by James King
Of all the deadly worms that breed in these wildernesses the most formidable, because the most sluggish, is the two-horned nocturnal cerastes, the "pretty worm of Nilus."
From Fountains in the Sand Rambles Among the Oases of Tunisia by Norman Douglas
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