fer-de-lance
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of fer-de-lance
1875–80; < French: literally, spearhead
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.
Unless it is a fer-de-lance, or bothrops asper, a nasty pit viper found in Central and South America.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 10, 2019
Plentiful, horrifying details are supplied, occasionally to comic effect: “Hey, guys,” moans Mumy, conveying Preston’s dismay as his flashlight illuminates a six-foot, head-swaying fer-de-lance, “there’s a giant snake here.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2017
One of the deadliest snakes in Mexico, a tawny fer-de-lance, was slithering by his head, 30 centimeters away.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 23, 2016
Antigua, Trinidad and Barbados are rapidly being overrun; Martinique, with its magnificent French cuisine, cockfights and occasional battles between a mongoose and a fer-de-lance, has been discovered, and the prices are a little high.
From Time Magazine Archive
The lance-headed or yellow viper, commonly known as the fer-de-lance, a very venomous serpent capable of making considerable springs when in pursuit of its prey, is common hereabouts.
From Inca Land Explorations in the Highlands of Peru by Hiram Bingham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
