snake
Americannoun
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any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.
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a treacherous person; an insidious enemy.
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Building Trades.
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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.
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Also called wirepuller. a length of resilient steel wire, for threading through an electrical conduit so that wire can be pulled through after it.
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verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to wind or make (one's course, way, etc.) in the manner of a snake.
to snake one's way through a crowd.
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to drag or haul, especially by a chain or rope, as a log.
noun
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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
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Also called: snake in the grass. a deceitful or treacherous person
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anything resembling a snake in appearance or action
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(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
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a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains
verb
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(intr) to glide or move like a snake
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(tr) to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it
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(tr) (often foll by out) to pull jerkily
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(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:
Native to Australia and the South Pacific, the snake likely reached Guam sometime after World War II, possibly by hiding aboard military cargo planes.
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
Beyond influencing how people respond to snake encounters, the researchers say the myth has also affected how rattlesnakes are treated.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
"I had hold of its tail from the rear of the snake, kept hold of it for two hours before it finally gave up and came out," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
And in Tansy’s other hand the garter snake, coiled with its tail hanging down.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
The invasion has long puzzled biologists because Guam's population is believed to have begun with only a small number of snakes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
A lab-raised monkey, born without a fear of snakes, can be taught to fear them—but not to fear flowers, a difference that suggests an inherited readiness to learn a survival strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Others wiggled like garden snakes between blades of grass.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Vines snaked through broken windows on abandoned buildings, street after street.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Local reporters estimated the queue was around 600 metres in length, and snaked around several streets.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 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
At John F. Kennedy International Airport this week, security lines for both the standard and PreCheck screening snaked several rows back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
She never finished the sentence, even in her mind, but the old anxiety snaked through her veins.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Anyone who has been to Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station in New York can tell you two things: It’s absolutely stunning and snaking lines are the norm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
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
One of his top sights at the Qatar tournament was thousands of their passionate fans snaking in long, noisy lines into and out of metro stations.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
At the station, chaotic scenes unfolded in the aftermath of the crash, with rescue workers shouting for oxygen tanks as ambulances stood by in a snaking queue, lights flashing.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
A Stitch in Time stood tall, snaking the yellow measuring tape over her shoulder and jabbing the offending needle into the pumpkin-shaped pincushion affixed to her wrist.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
