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rattlesnake

rattlesnake

42 4.1
A dangerous snake from America with a rattle on its tail that warns others
  • noun
  • /ˈrætəlˌsneɪk/
  • US
translation icon : serpiente de cascabel
  • While hiking in the desert, I heard the distinctive rattle of a rattlesnake warning me to stay away.
  • rattlesnake (Crotalus)

But I think in this culture, the rattlesnake almost never leaves the path.

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Examples

  • Animals like rattlesnakes and coyotes only emerge after after dark or at dawn and dusk, so they're crepuscular.

  • "And then there was that time he fought off a rattlesnake in the backyard..."

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I almost got bit by a big rattlesnake today.

  • So, I shot a rattlesnake.

  • Chief -- this rattlesnake took a chunk out of us a ways back.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Sometimes it was a field worker who had been bitten by a rattlesnake.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • I'm sure this desert is full of rattlesnakes.

  • There's nothing but rocks and rattlesnakes.

  • The dusty trails were dangerous, infested with rattlesnakes and bandits.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • I was thrilled to see the entwined rattlesnakes on the back of his jacket disappearing into the gloom.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

snake
vsrattlesnake
427 1.0

A long animal without legs covered in scales that sometimes has poison

is narrower naming the venomous species with tail segments that rattle
rattler
vsrattlesnake
  • US
14 8.2

A snake that can bite with poison and has a tail that makes a rattling sound when shaken

is the same animal but serves as the more formal common name

Compounds

A large venomous snake that has a rattle and diamond-shaped marks on its back

A large poisonous snake with a rattling tail that lives in eastern United States forests

A large venomous snake with a rattle that lives in wooded areas of the southeastern United States

A venomous rattlesnake with dark bands that lives in eastern United States woods

A very venomous rattlesnake with a rattle found in deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico

A small pale desert snake with a rattle and horn-like scales above its eyes in the southwestern United States

An orchid with many small white or brown flowers on a spiral spike like a rattlesnake tail

A small wild plant with spotted leaves and a stem of small pale flowers

A small North American plant with low leaves marked by purple veins

A small wild plant with purple flowers that grows in European meadows

A North American wild plant with long clusters of small flowers once used as medicine

A North American fern with spore clusters that look like a snake's rattle

A tall, prickly plant with round flowers that people once used to treat snakebites

A venomous snake that lives among rocks in the southwestern United States and Mexico

A venomous snake with a rattle that lives in dry grasslands in central North America

A venomous snake with dark cross bands that lives in dry rocky canyons of southern Arizona and Mexico

A dangerous snake with a rattle and speckled skin that hides on desert rocks

A large snake that has venom, a rattle, and diamond markings that lives in the US Southwest and Mexico

A venomous snake with a rattle on its tail that lives in western North America

How Venomous

mamba
  • South African
3 8.7
rattlesnake
  • US
42 4.1
pit viper
  • Specialized
3 8.0
copperhead
  • US
5 8.5
garter snake
  • US
4 3.8

Surface Forms

rattlesnake singular
rattlesnakes plural

Morphology

rattlesnake = rattle + snake (transparent) = rattle + snake

The meaning is directly the compound of 'rattle' (the sound) + 'snake' and is readily inferable from the parts.

Etymology

Rattlesnake comes from the two simple words rattle, meaning 'a shaking noise' like a baby's toy, and snake ('snake'). The snake has special tail parts that make a real rattle sound as a warning, so the name tells you exactly what the animal does.