snakebird

American

[sneyk-burd] / ˈsneɪkˌbɜrd /

noun

anhinga.

snakebird British

/ ˈsneɪkˌbɜːd /

noun

another name for darter

"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

Etymology

Origin of snakebird

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; snake + bird

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.

Its long neck resembles a snake ready to strike when the Anhinga - also called a snakebird - is swimming.

From Seattle Times

The heron, the snakebird, and the redshank, waded through the shallow drifts; and geese, widgeon, teal, and mallard, rose whirring in the air at every step.

From Project Gutenberg

In Plotus, the snakebird, the pyloric chamber of the stomach is beset with a mass of hair-like stiff filaments which permit nothing but fluid to pass into the duodenum.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023