tiger snake
- noun
- Australian
:
serpiente tigre
- The tiger snake is known for its striking brown and yellow banding.
Examples
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While hiking in Tasmania, we spotted a tiger snake basking in the sun.
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Son, you have any idea how quick you have to be to catch a tiger snake?
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I'd sooner trust a tiger snake than a horse thief, and I won't have murderers in my house.
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Be cautious when walking through bushland; a tiger snake might be hiding nearby.
Synonyms
A very dangerous brown and yellow snake from Australia and Tasmania called the tiger snake
Surface Forms
Morphology
tiger + snake
The compound 'tiger snake' is compositional: 'tiger' (a striped big cat) + 'snake' (a reptile) yields a snake characterized by tiger-like banding, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer it is a kind of snake with tiger-like markings. This animal-naming pattern (naming by resemblance) is cross-linguistically common, making the term transparent even though specific facts like venomousness or geographic range are not predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Tiger snake gets its name from the animal's dark bands that look like a tiger's stripes on the snake's body. That's why the name is used for the 'venomous' snake found in 'Australia' and 'Tasmania'.
