puff adder

noun

a large, thick-bodied, African viper, Bitis arietans, that inflates its body and hisses when disturbed.
a similar viper, B. inornata, native to southern Africa.

Origin of puff adder

First recorded in 1780–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for puff-adder

Historical Examples of puff-adder

The Puff-adder is the most common, as well as the most deadly, of African snakes.
Chatterbox, 1905.
Various
A puff-adder was his first thought, looking around for the reptile.
The Sign of the Spider
Bertram Mitford
Of all the Cape snakes the puff-adder is not only the deadliest, but by far the most to be feared.
Home Life on an Ostrich Farm
Annie Martin
The cobra and the puff-adder are the most dangerous of these fearsome things.
South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 8 (of 8)
Various
It is a specimen—a very rare specimen—of the South African puff-adder.
Mr. Punch In Society
Various

British Dictionary definitions for puff-adder

puff adder

noun

a large venomous African viper, Bitis arietans, that is yellowish-grey with brown markings and inflates its body when alarmed
another name for hognose snake

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

Word Origin and History for puff-adder

1789 of a South African snake that is venomous; 1882 of a western U.S. snake that is not; from puff (v.) + adder.