king cobra

noun

1. a cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, of southeastern Asia and the East Indies, that grows to a length of more than 15 feet (5 meters): the largest of the venomous snakes.

king cobra

noun

1. a very large venomous tropical Asian elapid snake, Ophiophagus hannah, that feeds on snakes and other reptiles and extends its neck into a hood when alarmed Also calledhamadryad

Word History and Origins

Origin of king cobra¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

For comparison, the prairie rattlesnake has 92 and the king cobra has 232.

From Popular-Science

Sata, who was known as King Cobra because of his sharp tongue, was thought to have been seriously ill for some time.

From The Daily Beast

The glimpses I got of it showed it to be the terrible king-cobra.

From Project Gutenberg

I kept its skin as a companion to the king-cobra we had killed in Buxa.

From Project Gutenberg

For the thing that glinted softly was a golden bracelet with the figure of a king-cobra wrought in heavy relief upon it.

From Project Gutenberg

What says King Cobra, then—Cobra and the others—crawling destroyers?

From Project Gutenberg

As well as he could judge the king-cobra was more than seventeen feet long.

From Project Gutenberg