puff adder
Americannoun
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a large, thick-bodied, African viper, Bitis arietans, that inflates its body and hisses when disturbed.
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a similar viper, B. inornata, native to southern Africa.
noun
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a large venomous African viper, Bitis arietans, that is yellowish-grey with brown markings and inflates its body when alarmed
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another name for hognose snake
Etymology
Origin of puff adder
First recorded in 1780–90
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.
One man’s fixation is another man’s repulsive, venomous puff adder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Her team then checked this in a variety of snakes - dissecting a total of nine species including the carpet python, puff adder and Mexican moccasin.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
A guy came in with a puff adder on a stick, that kind of thing.
From The Verge ● Aug. 28, 2018
Morrison, 46, looks like a cross between a puff adder and a pub keeper, and will never seem beguiling in a video.
From Time Magazine Archive
What I wanted to know was, who broke in with a sack full of puff adder?
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
