water moccasin

American  

noun

1. the cottonmouth.

2. any of various similar but harmless snakes, as a water snake of the genus Nerodia.

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water moccasin British  

noun

1. Also called: cottonmouth.  a large dark grey venomous snake, Agkistrodon piscivorus, of swamps in the southern US: family Crotalidae (pit vipers)

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Etymology

Origin of water moccasin

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25

Compare meaning

How does water-moccasin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• water moccasin vs. water snake

Example Sentences

He remembered Gramps’s most terrifying Betsy story, about one of his friends who’d been bitten by a water moccasin while making his way through the flooded streets.

From Literature

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

Or the gators cruising along the lake shores or water moccasins coiled and sunbathing around cypress trees.

From Washington Post

“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

We lived on Lake Eloise across from Cypress Gardens so, of course, we skied until we dropped, hopefully well clear of the gators and water moccasins that were facts of life in still-wild Central Florida.

From Washington Post