cottonmouth

[ kot-n-mouth ]

See synonyms for: cottonmouths on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural cot·ton·mouths

[kot-n-mouths, -mouthz]. /ˈkɒt nˌmaʊθs, -ˌmaʊðz/.

a venomous snake, Agkistrodon (Ancistrodon) piscivorus, of swamps in southeastern U.S., that grows to about 4 feet (1.2 meters).

Origin of cottonmouth

1825–35, Americanism;cotton + mouth, so called from the whiteness of its lips and mouth

Also called water moccasin.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cottonmouth in a sentence

And while they talked a huge cotton-mouth copperhead wriggled out on the floor.
The houseboat book | William F. Waugh
How strong the feeling is my boatman gave me proof within ten minutes after his failure with the cotton-mouth.
A Florida Sketch-Book | Bradford Torrey
People call it the cotton mouth, because that white streak looks like cotton.
Bobby Blake on a Plantation | Frank A. Warner
The cotton-mouth moccasin is semi-aquatic, being found around the edges of streams and other bodies of water.
Health on the Farm | H. F. Harris
They resemble the cotton-mouth moccasin in their general peculiarities, being, however, somewhat lighter in color.
Health on the Farm | H. F. Harris

British Dictionary definitions for cottonmouth

cottonmouth

/ (ˈkɒtənˌmaʊθ) /

noun

another name for the water moccasin

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

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