indigo snake

American

noun

a large, deep-blue or brown harmless snake, Drymarchon corais, ranging from the southern U.S. to South America and invading burrows to prey on small mammals: the eastern subspecies D. corais couperi is now greatly reduced in number.

indigo snake British

noun

a dark-blue nonvenomous North American colubrid snake, Drymarchon corais couperi

"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

Etymology

Origin of indigo snake

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

indigo snake

In Toledo, to back up his request for an additional reptile keeper, Zoo Director Philip C. Skeldon turned loose a wriggling 7-ft. indigo snake at a city-council meeting, quickly got his man.

From Time Magazine Archive

A terrified Boston girl bought a five-foot indigo snake as a wedding gift for her fiance.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are copper head snakes, coral snakes, cottonmouth snakes, and the blue indigo snake, so long and fast it can kill a rattlesnake.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023