snake charmer

American  

noun

1. an entertainer who seems to charm venomous snakes, usually by music.

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snake charmer British  

noun

1. an entertainer, esp in Asia, who charms or appears to charm snakes by playing music and by rhythmic body movements

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Etymology

Origin of snake charmer

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Camels that strolled along the side of the road in Multan can be ridden into the Arabian Sea on Clifton Beach, where a snake charmer will play music to a hissing black cobra.

From BBC • Dec. 16, 2022

Gold’s industry peers liken the way she does her job to the practice of an alchemist, a snake charmer, a card sharp, as if she were performing some kind of shadowy magic.

From The Guardian • Apr. 26, 2018

This openness was best embodied on the show’s Thanksgiving episode, which featured Moroccan musicians, chefs from Colombia, Puerto Rico and Albania, a snake charmer and a cabdriver from Queens, all feasting together.

From New York Times • Dec. 29, 2017

It opens with what sounds like the call of a snake charmer, a staccato synth-clarinet that also hints at 1950s cartoon music and a fast-tempoed sprint of rhythm.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2014

Breathing hard, bent over Tessie with trembling concentration, he moved the clarinet in circles, like a snake charmer.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides