sand snake
- noun
- /sænd seɪk/
- US
:
serpiente de arena
- Look at that sand snake slithering through the sand!
Examples
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Children were fascinated by the small sand snake they discovered under a rock.
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The sand snake spends most of its time buried beneath loose desert soils.
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Scientists observed a sand snake emerging to hunt insects at dusk.
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I saw a sand snake at the beach.
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On our hike, we spotted a sand snake slithering through the dunes.
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The wildlife expert explained how a sand snake adapts to its sandy environment.
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Children at the beach were excited to see a sand snake burrowing in the sand.
Synonyms
A small sand snake in the US southwest that swims through loose sand and has bands like a coral snake
A small burrowing snake that lives in sandy deserts in North America
A small snake with dark and light rings that moves through sand in the southwestern United States
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'sand snake' is directly compositional: combining 'sand' (sandy habitat) with 'snake' (a reptile) yields a snake associated with sand. This noun+noun pattern indicating type or habitat is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Sand snake comes from the animal's habit of living in loose sand, where the snake often hides under the sand with only its head showing. So, the name means 'a small burrowing snake that lives in sandy places'.
