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Snake

Snake

1 9.1
A faint group of stars near the equator in the sky between Virgo and Cancer
  • proper noun
: constelación Serpiente
  • Navigating through the Snake constellation can help you locate other nearby stars.

Examples

  • Astronomers often study the Snake constellation for its unique shape and brightness.

  • I'd traveled the road from Moscow to Lewiston, the bluff overlooking the Snake River, the trail along the Selway.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The stars in the Snake constellation are best viewed during the summer months.

Synonyms

Hydra
vsSnake
1 7.9

A large faint group of stars that stretches between Virgo and Cancer

is long and stretched between those constellations rather than broadly covering area

Idioms

snake in the grass
  • Offensive
6 8.1

A person who pretends to be friendly but secretly harms or tricks you

son of a snake
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who lies or cheats and cannot be trusted

mad as a cut snake
  • Australian
1 9.9

Feeling extremely angry and acting wildly

To have very bad luck at an important time

Compounds

snake oil
  • Informal
19 8.0

A thing presented as helpful that does not work and tricks people

snake pit
  • Informal
7 7.3

An unpleasant, chaotic place where people act badly toward each other

6 4.3

A poisonous fluid that some snakes inject when they bite to stop or kill other animals

A person who uses music or movement to make snakes move for people

snake oil salesman
  • Offensive
5 8.0

A person who tricks people by offering fake medicines or useless products

4 3.0

A large river in the northwest United States that flows from Wyoming to the Columbia River

3 3.8

A common North and Central American snake that is not venomous and has long stripes

sea snake
  • Specialized
3 6.4

A long sea animal with no legs, a flat tail, and a poisonous bite that eats fish

3 3.5

A snake that usually is not dangerous and lives near water

2 7.2

A small venomous snake with red, yellow, and black bands that has a deadly bite

2 5.8

A North American snake that does not have venom and often eats other snakes and small animals

1 5.3

A snake that is not poisonous and eats rats and mice

snake eyes
  • Informal
1 7.5

A roll of two ones with two dice that people see as very unlucky

1 6.0

A gentle reddish-orange snake from the southeastern United States often found on farms and kept as a pet

1 4.6

People moving forward in a long winding line at a celebration

1 3.7

A small green North American snake that eats insects

1 5.2

A long flexible metal tool for clearing clogs in pipes

A harmless North American snake that has stripes and often lives in gardens

1 9.5

A god linked to snakes and worshipped in parts of the Caribbean

1 8.6

A small snake that lives in sandy places and hides under loose sand

glass snake
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A legless lizard with a long tail that breaks off and regrows to escape predators

1 7.0

A large North American snake that is not venomous and lives in burrows eating rodents

1 2.7

A small harmless green or striped snake often found in grass

1 6.9

A large North American snake that eats rodents, lives in burrows, and is not venomous

A small harmless woodland snake with a red belly

tiger snake
  • Australian
1 8.3

A venomous snake with brown and yellow bands found in Australia and Tasmania

1 9.5

A long thin snake with a tail like a braided whip that moves quickly

spitting snake
  • South African
1 8.4

A venomous southern African snake that sprays venom at a threat, often to hit the eyes

elapid snake
  • Specialized
1 8.5

A snake like a cobra or mamba that has venom and uses fixed fangs to put it into other animals

1 5.3

A large shiny black snake from North America that is not venomous and eats rats and mice

1 7.9

A harmless North American snake with an upturned nose that spreads its head and plays dead when scared

1 5.1

A harmless North American snake with red, black, and white bands that looks like a coral snake

1 4.2

A harmless European snake with a yellow collar

1 3.9

A houseplant with long, stiff leaves that grow upright

1 7.1

A thin tree snake that looks like a vine

1 7.7

A venomous snake with a copper-colored head and dark cross bands

1 7.4

A large dark blue nonvenomous snake in southern North America and Mexico that often enters burrows

eastern coral snake
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A venomous banded snake from the southeastern United States and parts of Central America

1 7.1

A small fast snake with a long thin body and tail

1 6.5

A thin North American snake with a yellow stripe often near water

1 7.2

A small snake that is not poisonous with a yellow or orange ring around its neck

rough green snake
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A thin bright green snake with rough scales that is harmless and lives in the southern and eastern United States

1 7.7

A small thin snake that looks like a worm and lives under stones or logs

1 9.9

A long, thin insect with bright, shiny wings that eats mosquitoes

1 7.2

A low wooden rail barrier that forms a zigzag pattern to mark or enclose land

1 7.5

A low wooden fence made of rails in a zigzag that marks a border

1 9.0

A small fast snake with a long thin tail

1 7.4

A large harmless North American snake that eats birds and eggs

A snake that is not venomous and lives near fresh water in the western United States

1 8.8

A small snake that looks like a worm and lives underground

hoop snake
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A snake from old stories that holds its tail in its mouth and rolls like a hoop

house snake
  • South African
1 7.5

A snake that is not poisonous, often tan or brown, that lives near houses and eats mice

rock snake
  • South African
1 7.6

A very large snake from Africa that can grow over six meters long

1 8.2

A tropical fish with a long head and a big mouth

A harmless snake with dark bands that lives near rivers and lakes in the western United States

1 7.4

A large snake that does not have venom and lives in pine woods in the eastern United States

A small ground snake with a black head that hides under rocks or leaves

1 9.1

A pale blotched desert snake with a short blunt nose from southwestern North America that is not dangerous to people

1 9.9

A mildly venomous snake with a V-shaped mark on its head that lives in rocky areas

1 8.5

A small shy snake with bright rings that hides under rocks in dry western North America

1 8.2

A small snake that is active at night in the western United States and Mexico

1 9.1

A tropical plant with long, curved leaves that grows in warm, wet places

A long thin fish that lives in deep warm seas and eats other fish

A snake with venom and red, yellow, black bands that lives in southwest US and Central America

carpet snake
  • Australian
8.0

A large Australian snake with patterned skin that often lives near farms

colubrid snake
  • Specialized
8.5

A mostly non-venomous snake that lives on land, in trees, or near water

9.9

A long thin water animal like an eel with tiny legs that lives in muddy pools in the southern US

A small reddish-grey snake in eastern North America that burrows under leaves and soil

A large nonvenomous snake with shiny blue-black skin that lives in the southeastern United States

African coral snake
  • South African
8.9

A small snake that lives in trees in southern Africa with black and orange bands

8.9

A venomous snake with bright red, yellow, and black bands that lives in Asia

A small snake with dark and light rings that moves through sand in the southwestern United States

7.7

A small venomous Australian snake with bright red, black and white rings that is usually harmless to people

Surface Forms

Snake main

Etymology

Snake comes from an old English word snaca meaning 'snake', and people used the animal name for a long line of stars because the pattern looks like a serpent in the sky, so the constellation is called Snake.