snake
Americannoun
-
snakes
plural
-
any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.
-
a treacherous person; an insidious enemy.
-
Building Trades.
-
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.
-
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)
verb (used with object)
-
to wind or make (one's course, way, etc.) in the manner of a snake.
to snake one's way through a crowd.
-
to drag or haul, especially by a chain or rope, as a log.
noun
-
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
-
Also called: snake in the grass. a deceitful or treacherous person
-
anything resembling a snake in appearance or action
-
(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
-
a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains
verb
-
(intr) to glide or move like a snake
-
(tr) to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it
-
(tr) (often foll by out) to pull jerkily
-
(tr) to move in or follow (a sinuous course)
Usage
What else does snake mean? Snake can be slang for a person who acts in a deceitful, underhanded, or backstabbing way.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of snake
before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English snaca; cognate with Middle Low German snake, Old Norse snākr
Explanation
A snake is a long reptile without legs that moves by undulating, arching the bones in its back and pushing against the ground. A pet snake is easy to care for, unless you're squeamish about feeding it mice. Like other reptiles, snakes are covered in smooth scales. Unlike most, snakes have flexible jaws that allow them to eat things much wider than their own narrow bodies — if you see a big lump in the middle of a garter snake's body, you can be pretty sure it's just eaten a mouse. Because so many people are afraid of snakes (the vast majority of which are not poisonous), the word has also come to mean "treacherous or deceitful person." Snake is a verb as well, meaning "move like a snake."
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:
He does know how to make money selling snake oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The brown tree snake has become one of the world's best-known examples of an invasive species.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Gray previously studied Guam's brown tree snake problem while working for the USGS.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
That’s because when a snake bites and punctures the skin and transfers venom into the victim’s body, the venom attacks the skin, soft tissue and connective tissue beneath it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Tansy, does Alice Roosevelt really carry a pet snake around in her purse?”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Of the 1.3 million schoolchildren evacuated from cities to the countryside, Mr. Scott writes, many “resorted to eating grasshoppers, snakes, and stream crabs as well as tooth-cleaning powder, paint, and crayons.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He follows a carnivore diet, picks up snakes with his bare hands, and pushes videos of himself doing pushups shirtless and in jeans.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
Flooding in Hengzhou city, Guangxi in early July caused hundreds of snakes to escape from a breeding farm.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Determining when these changes appeared will require comparisons with brown tree snakes from their native range.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
He hurried back upstairs, praying that snakes couldn’t climb.
From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis
Cars honking their horns snaked through the capital of the small South American country that does not usually get a lot of attention for anything.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
As for the social media star, Watson wonders if he'll still draw in as many YouTube viewers or if some fans will feel like he has "snaked" his fellow Sidemen.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
And when security lines snaked through terminals during a partial government shutdown last month, United spotted an opportunity to introduce live TSA wait times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
The line to see Gomez’s replica of L.A.’s graffiti towers, “Oceanwide Plaza,” snaked through the gallery’s courtyard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Deep crevasses snaked across their path from time to time.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Twentysomethings clad in Deftones and Pikachu tees, Dodgers caps, and beaded bracelets joined the procession, snaking from the dance floor through the bar area and back down again.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Airport dads, families and infrequent fliers will delight in the breathing room and lack of snaking lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Step into pretty much any shopping mall in Singapore and you're likely to find queues snaking outside shops with catchy names and bright-coloured branding.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Farther up Main Street, planter boxes are falling apart, with tree roots snaking down the wall, uprooting concrete and auditioning for roles in a sequel to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026
His knees bobbled and bucked with the boat as it sped along, snaking its way in the writhing grooves of the stream.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
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.
