water moccasin
Americannoun
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the cottonmouth.
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any of various similar but harmless snakes, as a water snake of the genus Nerodia.
noun
Etymology
Origin of water moccasin
An Americanism dating back to 1815–25
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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.
A water moccasin may glide silently past, and a few times we’ve seen iridescent alligator eyes peering out at us before they sank back down into the depths.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2023
“He was kind of a grumpy snake, and everybody was going, ‘Omigod, omigod, it's a water moccasin, kill it!’” she recollects.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2022
Apart from having the moral imagination of a water moccasin, in other words, Rupert Murdoch's just a terrific guy.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2011
Just this week Billy, a funny, gonzo fellow in Louisiana whose last name is Bretherton, dealt with someone’s water moccasin infestation.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2010
When the stick turned against the current to swim toward the bank, I saw it was a water moccasin and threw a cinder at it.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
