serpentine
1 Americanadjective
noun
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a device on a harquebus lock for holding the match.
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a cannon having any of various bore sizes, used from the 15th to the 17th century.
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Skating. a school figure made by skating two figure eights that share one loop.
verb (used without object)
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, or resembling a serpent
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twisting; winding
noun
noun
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a dark green or brown mineral with a greasy or silky lustre, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. It is used as an ornamental stone; and one variety (chrysotile) is known as asbestos. Composition: hydrated magnesium silicate. Formula: Mg 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 . Crystal structure: monoclinic
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any of a group of minerals having the general formula (Mg,Fe) 3 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4
Etymology
Origin of serpentine1
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English (adjective) from Old French serpentin, serpentine and Latin serpentīnus “snakelike”; see origin at Serpens, -ine 1 ( def. )
Origin of serpentine2
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English serpentin(e), from Old French serpentine and Medieval Latin serpentīnum (neuter) and serpentīna (feminine), noun use of neuter of serpentīnus serpentine 1
Explanation
You can use the adjective serpentine to describe things that look like a serpent or are snakelike. Looking down at the carved riverbeds in the Grand Canyon is like looking into a basket of snakes: the serpentine twists curve throughout the canyon floor. Not everyone likes snakes, but those who aren’t grossed out by the highly flexible bodies of serpents might enjoy using the word serpentine for things that resemble their snaky, curvy lines. Strands of hair, cracks in dry desert, and roller-coaster rides can look serpentine, and you might tangle with a serpentine hose while minding your own business and watering the plants. Sometimes serpentine even describes people who are snakelike or slippery in character.
Vocabulary lists containing serpentine
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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.
See Examples For:
The artwork depicts a fantastical creature combining multiple striking features, including a spiral horn, elongated snout, hooked teeth, wings, and a serpentine tail.
From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026
With that as the framework from which “House of Ashur” operates, Tarabay understands the eternal allure of the gladiator as opposed to the serpentine psychological maneuvering of Roman senators.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025
The stone, set in a serpentine ring, once belonged to Rachel Lambert Mellon, better known as Bunny Mellon, a US horticulturalist, philanthropist and art collector.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025
From bag-check to security to the serpentine concourses filled with high-end shops, private airline clubs, restaurants, spas and more, making your way through a supersize airport terminal is like a journey in itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
At once light and dense, there was something lithe about it, almost serpentine.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
“Through the peaks and valleys and alleyways we serpentined through together you were always there,” he continued.
From Fox News ● Jun. 10, 2019
Downstairs, a line that started forming nearly an hour early had serpentined past racks of fluorescent wigs and novelty socks all the way to the front door.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2019
As they serpentined down the murky Itaquaí, signs of civilization receded.
From Washington Post
Posing as a Swiss traveling salesman, he had serpentined through Germany for eleven days, finally crossed into Switzerland.
From Time Magazine Archive
Shirley was watching the lights as they serpentined their way to us across the nearly calm water of the bay, idly toying with the now useless combinator.
From The Dream Doctor by Reeve, Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin)
John Wallace kicked field goals of 37 and 39 yards, the latter coming after Chucky Williams’ serpentining interception return and giving Louisville a one-point lead with 1:25 left in the third.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2015
Then the rapture overflows the spectator's brain, and the Master, arrayed in a serpentining garment, appears in the path before him.
From A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.) by Orr, Sutherland, Mrs.
Gullies and vertical rifts scored the highway serpentining hither and thither, the chasms gaping to swallow the Gloria or at least bite off a wheel.
From The Car of Destiny by Both, Armand
And that Lucretia, his wife! his "serpentining beauty, rounds on rounds!"
From Fragments of an Autobiography by Moscheles, Felix
Those marble terraces and artfully serpentining gravel walks surely never had echoed to steps so strange.
From The Enchanted Castle by Nesbit, E. (Edith)
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.
