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Glite Dictionary
🌸 A marsh plant 🕵️ A people smuggler
snake-head

snake-head

9.6
A person who secretly arranges illegal border crossings for migrants, often leading a smuggling gang
  • noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : coyote
  • Police arrested the alleged snake-head who had organized dozens of illegal crossings last year.

Examples

  • Journalists reported that the gang's snake-head negotiated payments and travel documents for migrants.

  • Survivors described how smugglers tricked them and handed them over to ruthless snake-heads.

  • The police arrested a notorious snake-head yesterday.

  • Many snake-heads operate in secret to avoid detection.

  • Police arrested the alleged snake-head who had organized dozens of illegal crossings last year.

  • Journalists reported that the gang's snake-head negotiated payments and travel documents for migrants.

  • Many snake-heads operate in secret to avoid detection.

Synonyms

snakehead
vssnake-head
  • NSFW
2 8.6

A person who arranges illegal travel into a country for money

is the leader who runs an organized smuggling group rather than a lone arranger

Surface Forms

snake-head singular
snake-heads plural

Morphology

snake-head = snake + head (semi-transparent) = snake + head

The compound uses 'head' in the productive sense 'leader' and 'snake' metaphorically; the metaphorical extension makes the exact meaning (leader of smuggling group) not fully predictable for learners.

Etymology

Snake-head in informal speech comes from Chinese words meaning 'snake head' that were used for the leader of a smuggling gang, and the image of a secret, slippery leader explains why the word now means someone who arranges illegal crossings.