fer-de-lance

American  

[fer-dl-ans, -ahns] / ˌfɛr dlˈæns, -ˈɑns /

noun

1. a large pit viper, Bothrops atrox, of tropical America.

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fer-de-lance British  

/ ˌfɛədəˈlɑːns /

noun

1. a large highly venomous tropical American snake, Trimeresurus (or Bothops ) atrox , with a greyish-brown mottled coloration: family Crotalidae (pit vipers)

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Etymology

Origin of fer-de-lance

1875–80; < French: literally, spearhead

Example Sentences

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

Meantime the patient is given all sorts of absurd things to drink, in tafia and sour-orange juice—such as old clay pipes ground to powder, or the head of the fer-de-lance itself, roasted dry and pounded….

From Two Years in the French West Indies by Hearn, Lafcadio