snake charmer

American  

noun

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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of snake charmer

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snake charmer

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

Zoe Ziegfeld, a 35-year-old resident of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, is still working as a nanny but lost all of her performance work, including her occasional gig as a snake charmer with The Metropolitan Opera.

From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2021

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

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

He was a snake charmer whose own snake had died.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel