plumber's snake
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of plumber's snake
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
Remove the drain screen and give it a good cleaning and, if necessary, use a plunger or plumber’s snake to clear the drain.
From Washington Post
So I tried them all again, in order: boiling water, a run-through with a plumber’s snake, a dose of some kind of proprietary enzyme; plain old sulphuric acid.
From The Guardian
Cape May has three full-time pump stations to handle storm overflow; a Ramjet that is akin to a plumber’s snake but on a much larger level; and a street sweeper that completes one lap of the quaint and lush town’s nine miles of roadways each week.
From Newsweek
Clogged arteries are either reopened with the equivalent of a plumber's snake or bypassed by vessels borrowed from other parts of the body.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.