hoop snake

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noun

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

Words nearby hoop snake

hoopman, hoopoe, hoop-petticoat narcissus, hoop pine, hoop skirt, hoop snake, hoopster, hoorah, hooray, Hooray Henry, Hoorn

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

How to use hoop snake in a sentence

He stretched his neck and saw that which suggested an overgrown hoop-snake rolling down the hill.
'Me-Smith'|Caroline Lockhart
The "hoop snake" was quite as authentic to us as the blue racer, although no one had actually seen one.
A Son of the Middle Border|Hamlin Garland
It is applied also to the southern hoop-snake (Abastor erythrogrammus).
Myths of the Cherokee|James Mooney
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.
The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for hoop snake

hoop snake

noun

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

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