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krait

American

[krahyt] / kraɪt /

noun

any of several large, usually banded, placid but highly venomous snakes constituting the genus Bungarus, of the cobra family, common in southeastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago.

krait British

/ kraɪt /

noun

any nonaggressive brightly coloured venomous elapid snake of the genus Bungarus, of S and SE Asia

"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 krait

First recorded in 1870–75, krait is from the Hindi word karait

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Jardine, Khalek and their colleagues tested the effect of 95Mat5 on mice injected with toxins from the many-banded krait, Indian spitting cobra, black mamba and king cobra.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

Tamil Nadu has high numbers of four venomous snakes whose bites can seriously affect humans: the spectacled cobra, the Russell's viper, the saw-scaled viper and the common krait.

From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024

Indian antivenom targets the “big four” species of venomous snakes in the region: the Indian cobra, the common krait, Russell's viper and the saw-scaled viper.

From Scientific American • Sep. 23, 2023

The poison form the krait snake’s bungarotoxin binds irreversibly to acetylcholine receptors interfering with acetylcholine binding at the synapse.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

A krait, the most deadly snake in India, in the middle of the day came in at the door of the room in which I was sitting reading.

From India and the Indians by Elwin, Edward Fenton

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