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hoop snake

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noun
  1. any of several harmless snakes, as the mud snake and rainbow snake, fabled to take its tail in its mouth and roll along like a hoop.
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Origin of hoop snake

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hoop snake

Historical Examples

  • Thought you might like to know the chu-wugg turned into a hoop-snake this morning!

    Once a Greech

    Evelyn E. Smith

  • I confess I was deceived in—I won't say that man, but that hoop-snake.

    A Dream of Empire

    William Henry Venable

  • I heard an old hunter say he once stood by a lone tree on the prairie and saw a hoop-snake come rolling toward the tree.

British Dictionary definitions for hoop snake

hoop snake

noun
  1. any of various North American snakes, such as the mud snake (Farancia abacura), that were formerly thought to hold the tail in the mouth and roll along like a hoop
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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