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• snake's-head
  snake's-head

  noun

  checkered lily.
• snake's head
  snake's head

  noun

  a European fritillary plant, Fritillaria meleagris, of damp meadows, having purple-and-white chequered flowers

snake's-head

American  

[sneyks-hed] / ˈsneɪksˌhɛd /

noun

1. checkered lily.

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snake's head British  

noun

1. a European fritillary plant, Fritillaria meleagris, of damp meadows, having purple-and-white chequered flowers

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Etymology

Origin of snake's-head

First recorded in 1730–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snake's-head snake's head

In Gloucestershire the fruit of the Arum maculatum is snake's-victuals, and snake's-head is a common name for thefritillary.

From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)

By these, but on the lower ground almost level with the water, big forget-me-nots, butterburs, and wild snake's-head lilies should be set, and all the crimson and white varieties of garden daisy.

From The Naturalist on the Thames by Cornish, C. J. (Charles John)

A snake’s-head on the old railroads was where a rail got loose from the fish-plate at one end and came up over the wheel instead of staying down under it.

From Track's End Being the Narrative of Judson Pitcher's Strange Winter Spent There As Told by Himself and Edited by Hayden Carruth Including an Accurate Account of His Numerous Adventures, and the Facts Concerning His Several Surprising Escapes from Death Now First Printed in Full by Carleton, Clifford

As he massages the snake's head with his hand, a bead of gold venom oozes out of a tooth.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 23, 2023

"When you hesitate - then you got your hand right in front of that snake's head and it's gonna bite you."

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023

An officer was able to shoot the snake’s head without hurting the man, who was given medical aid and taken to the hospital.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 25, 2022

In a meadow-style array with plum and apple trees, blue camassias mingle with pink-and-white Lady Jane tulips and bell-shaped, purple-and-white-checkered snake’s head fritillaria.

From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2021

The Manticore has a lion’s body, a man’s face, and a tail with a venomous snake’s head at the end of it.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas