snake
Americannoun
-
snakes
plural
-
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.
-
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)
verb (used with object)
-
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.
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 snake
-
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) to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it
-
(tr) (often foll by out) to pull jerkily
-
(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:
Weary of venomous snake bites, British authorities put a bounty on dead cobras — but this only incentivized locals to breed more of the snakes, in order to collect even more reward money.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
He does know how to make money selling snake oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Gray previously studied Guam's brown tree snake problem while working for the USGS.
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
But Miss Philips just said she didn’t know of any shot that would benefit Leroy, and anyway, all her sympathies were with the snake.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
"Points to consider include how do you define a pet - does the policy just cover cats and dogs or would hamsters, rabbits, goldfish, horses, snakes, or other animals be included?"
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Some turtles, snakes, and crocodilians weighing between 8kg and 14.5kg produce hatchlings that weigh only nine to 53g.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
If you allow people to earn cash from dead snakes, you risk getting a lot more living snakes in the process.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Of the 1.3 million schoolchildren evacuated from cities to the countryside, Mr. Scott writes, many “resorted to eating grasshoppers, snakes, and stream crabs as well as tooth-cleaning powder, paint, and crayons.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He steadied himself as he reached for the slip, fingers extending toward the snakes.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
A queue of hundreds of people who came to pay their respects snaked around the venue on Monday morning with thousands expected over the course of the day.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Later that afternoon, outside the ballroom, the line to meet Stone snaked along her merch table.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Videos on social media of travellers snaked around buildings in massive queues have gone viral, and led to concerns about the US' ability to co-host the World Cup starting in June.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
Spring break travelers faced an extra dose of frustration over the weekend as airport security lines snaked on for hours.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
Sweat snaked down his forehead as it finally clicked in his mind, and both panic and joy erupted within him as he turned and faced down one of the hallways.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
When her foster mom is preparing dinner, Lu sneakily samples from her siblings’ meals, snaking her tongue into each bowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
My trips to and from London and Paris, Lisbon and Rome to test the system over a peak-summer week were free of snaking lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 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
I could see rivulets of liquid snaking from his sleeve down his arm.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
