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View synonyms for snake

snake

[ sneyk ]

noun

  1. any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.
  2. a treacherous person; an insidious enemy. Compare snake in the grass.
  3. Building Trades.
    1. Also called auger, plumber's snake. (in plumbing) a device for dislodging obstructions in curved pipes, having a head fed into the pipe at the end of a flexible metal band.
    2. Also called wirepuller. a length of resilient steel wire, for threading through an electrical conduit so that wire can be pulled through after it.


verb (used without object)

snaked, snaking.
  1. to move, twist, or wind:

    The road snakes among the mountains.

verb (used with object)

snaked, snaking.
  1. to wind or make (one's course, way, etc.) in the manner of a snake:

    to snake one's way through a crowd.

  2. to drag or haul, especially by a chain or rope, as a log.

snake

/ sneɪk /

noun

  1. any reptile of the suborder Ophidia (or Serpentes ), typically having a scaly cylindrical limbless body, fused eyelids, and a jaw modified for swallowing large prey: includes venomous forms such as cobras and rattlesnakes, large nonvenomous constrictors (boas and pythons), and small harmless types such as the grass snake colubrineophidian
  2. Also calledsnake in the grass a deceitful or treacherous person
  3. anything resembling a snake in appearance or action
  4. (in the European Union) a former system of managing a group of currencies by allowing the exchange rate of each of them only to fluctuate within narrow limits
  5. a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains
“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

verb

  1. intr to glide or move like a snake
  2. tr to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it
  3. tr often foll by out to pull jerkily
  4. tr to move in or follow (a sinuous course)
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈsnakeˌlike, adjective
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Other Words From

  • snakelike adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of snake1

before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English snaca; cognate with Middle Low German snake, Old Norse snākr
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Word History and Origins

Origin of snake1

Old English snaca; related to Old Norse snākr snake, Old High German snahhan to crawl, Norwegian snōk snail
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Example Sentences

The concentration of the pair was not even broken by two brief floodlight failures and a spectator wobbling a beer snake next to the sightscreen.

From BBC

But word got round, and now, as the day begins, he has a line of people snaking out his door, hoping he can turn their bills from waste paper to usable currency.

But the miners themselves live even further out, in shacks made of wood and canvas, surrounded by snakes and jaguars, and in total darkness once the generator is switched off.

From BBC

In the study published in Nature Aging, researchers sampled cells from young, old and geriatric mice at six time points after inducing injury via a variant of snake venom toxin.

Melbourne Snake Control were called in to retrieve the animal, which was identified as a tiger snake, one of the world's most venomous reptiles.

From BBC

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About This Word

What else does snake mean?

Snake can be slang for a person who acts in a deceitful, underhanded, or backstabbing way.

Where does snake come from?

Snakes and serpents have long been figures of danger and deception. We need look no further than the Judeo-Christian story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where a diabolical serpent duped Eve into eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Things didn’t go too well for her or Adam after that …

Deep fears and myths, not to mention the slithering and tongue-flicking nature of the reptile, helped make the word snake refer to a “treacherous, unreliable, and deceptive person” by at least the 1580s. An extended expression is snake in the grass, or “concealed danger,” recorded in the early 1600s. Snake, as a verb for “sneak” or “cheat,” is found in the 1860s and 1870s.

It’s not all so high-brow when it comes to sneaky snakes. The cartoon The Simpsons, for instance, has featured the minor character, and comical criminal, Snake Jailbird since 1991.

How is snake used in real life?

Snake is a widely used term for an untrustworthy person, especially deceitful men in romantic contexts.

The verb snake is also used when talking about someone acting in a fiendish, snake-like way.

And then of course there are more lighthearted takes on those sly and scheming snakes out there.

More examples of snake:

“Should I Connect With this Guy? 10 Signs He May be a Snake in the Grass”
—PreEngaged (title), March 2015

“Can’t trust everybody around you, those be the main ones ready to snake you”
—@taethomas35, November 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.

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snail's pacesnake charmer