colubrine

American

[kol-uh-brahyn, -brin, -yuh-] / ˈkɒl əˌbraɪn, -brɪn, -yə- /

adjective

of or resembling a snake; snakelike.
belonging or pertaining to the subfamily Colubrinae, comprising the typical colubrid snakes.

colubrine British

/ -brɪn, ˈkɒljʊˌbraɪn /

adjective

of or resembling a snake
of, relating to, or belonging to the Colubrinae, a subfamily of harmless colubrid snakes

"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

Etymology

Origin of colubrine

1520–30; < Latin colubrīnus, equivalent to colubr- (stem of coluber ) snake + -īnus -ine ¹

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.

This greed of Uncle Eneas was colubrine.

From Project Gutenberg

Spilotes, spī-lō′tēz, n. a genus of colubrine serpents.

From Project Gutenberg

Natrix, nā′triks, n. a genus of colubrine snakes.

From Project Gutenberg

Colubrine domesticity had its allures.

From New York Times

Catalogue of colubrine snakes in the collection of the British Museum.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023