snake

[ sneyk ]

/ sneɪk /

noun

any of numerous limbless, scaly, elongate reptiles of the suborder Serpentes, comprising venomous and nonvenomous species inhabiting tropical and temperate areas.

a treacherous person; an insidious enemy.Compare snake in the grass.

Building Trades.

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.
Also called wirepuller. a length of resilient steel wire, for threading through an electrical conduit so that wire can be pulled through after it.

verb (used without object), snaked, snak·ing.

to move, twist, or wind: The road snakes among the mountains.

verb (used with object), snaked, snak·ing.

to wind or make (one's course, way, etc.) in the manner of a snake: to snake one's way through a crowd.

to drag or haul, especially by a chain or rope, as a log.

Words nearby snake

snail mail, snail's pace, snail-paced, snailfish, snailflower, snake, snake charmer, snake dance, snake doctor, snake eyes, snake feeder

Origin of snake

before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English snaca; cognate with Middle Low German snake, Old Norse snākr

OTHER WORDS FROM snake

snake·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for snaking

The frozen Yukon River, snaking its way to the Bering Sea, was visible from my window on the Cessna.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed|Terry Greene Sterling|April 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The line grew quickly and into the hundreds of people, snaking through the narrow hallways and out to Hiawassee Road.
Chaos Reigns at Florida Polls on Election Day|Winston Ross|November 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
They confirmed the discoveries by snaking listening devices and search cameras through tiny breaches in the concrete.
What Haiti Can Teach Chile|Joshua Robinson|March 1, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Douwes quitted Holland, snaking off her dust from his feet, and went to live at Wiesbaden.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10|Various

Long before midnight he was snaking his way noiselessly through the underbrush that surrounded the camp.
The Coast of Adventure|Harold Bindloss
Jim decided to press Coyote and Piute into service for snaking the logs down.
The Frontier Boys in the Grand Canyon|Wyn Roosevelt
He crossed the floor with slinking, tigerish steps and snaking body.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1930|Victor Rousseau
The snaking track might take up acres and acres of rich land.
In the Tail of the Peacock|Isabel Savory

British Dictionary definitions for snaking

snake

/ (sneɪk) /

noun

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 snakeRelated adjectives: colubrine, ophidian

Also called: snake in the grass a deceitful or treacherous person

anything resembling a snake in appearance or action

(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

a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains

verb

(intr) to glide or move like a snake

(tr) US to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it

(tr) US (often foll by out) to pull jerkily

(tr) to move in or follow (a sinuous course)

Derived forms of snake

snakelike, adjective

Word Origin for snake

Old English snaca; related to Old Norse snākr snake, Old High German snahhan to crawl, Norwegian snōk snail

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

snake

noun

verb (used without object), snaked, snak·ing.

verb (used with object), snaked, snak·ing.

Content related to snake

Words related to snake

Words nearby snake

Origin of snake

OTHER WORDS FROM snake

Examples from the Web for snaking

British Dictionary definitions for snaking

noun

verb

Derived forms of snake

Word Origin for snake