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cottonmouth

[ kot-n-mouth ]

noun

, plural cot·ton·mouths [kot, -n-mouths, -mou, th, z].
  1. a venomous snake, Agkistrodon ( Ancistrodon ) piscivorus, of swamps in southeastern U.S., that grows to about 4 feet (1.2 meters).


cottonmouth

/ ˈkɒtənˌmaʊθ /

noun

  1. 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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Word History and Origins

Origin of cottonmouth1

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

And the previous homeowners had found venomous snakes on the property, including a cottonmouth coiled by the pool.

They can even handle the bite from venomous snakes such as cottonmouths, timber rattlesnakes and copperheads.

A rattlesnake often warned a body before it struck, but a cottonmouth might attack before folks even knew it was there.

The world hosts hundreds of wildly different venomous snake species, from brightly banded coral snakes to camouflaged cottonmouths.

Snakes from a wide variety of habitats and ecological roles — including close relatives of the sidewinder rattlesnake, such as cottonmouths or diamondback rattlesnakes — have these prominent spikes on their bellies.

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