Indian rat snake
- noun
- Indian
:
serpiente rata india
- An Indian rat snake slithered into the kitchen while chasing a mouse.
Examples
-
Farmers often welcome the presence of Indian rat snakes because they help control pests around the property.
-
Many residents have reported sightings of Indian rat snakes in urban areas during the rainy season.
-
The Indian rat snake is often found in urban areas.
-
Have you ever seen an Indian rat snake in the wild?
-
An Indian rat snake slithered into the kitchen while chasing a mouse.
-
Farmers often welcome the presence of Indian rat snakes because they help control pests around the property.
-
Many residents have reported sightings of Indian rat snakes in urban areas during the rainy season.
Synonyms
427
1.0
A long animal without legs covered in scales that sometimes has poison
1
5.3
A snake that is not poisonous and eats rats and mice
A large snake from South and Southeast Asia that lives near people, is not poisonous, and eats rats
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is transparently compositional: 'Indian' specifies origin, 'rat' modifies 'snake' to indicate a snake associated with or preying on rats, so a B1 learner who knows the three words can infer it denotes a type of snake from India related to rats. This follows a common noun-modifier pattern cross-linguistically; while species-specific details (e.g. non-venomous) require extra knowledge, the basic referent is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Indian rat snake comes from the simple picture of an Indian snake that hunts rats, often slipping into houses to catch them. That's why the name now means 'a large snake from South and Southeast Asia that is not poisonous and often enters buildings to hunt rats'.