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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



172 words match “SNAKE”

HOODED a.
Having a hoodlike crest or prominence on the head or neck; as, the hooded seal; a hooded snake. Hooded crow, a European crow (Corvus cornix); -- called also hoody, dun crow, and royston crow. -- Hooded gull, the European black-headed pewit or gull. -- Hooded merganser. See Merganser. -- Hooded seal, a large North At…
HOOP n.
oops for expanding the skirts of a woman's dress; -- called also hoop petticoat. -- Hoop snake (Zoöl.), a harmless snake of the Southern United States (Abaster erythrogrammus); -- so called from the mistaken notion that it curves itself into a hoop, taking its tail into its mouth, and rolls along with great velocity.…
HORNED a.
n fresh-water siluroid fish; the bullpout. -- Horned rattler (Zoöl.), a species of rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes), inhabiting the dry, sandy plains, from California to Mexico. It has a pair of triangular horns between the eyes; -- called also sidewinder. -- Horned ray (Zoöl.), the sea devil. -- Horned screamer (Zoö…
HYDROPHID n.
Any sea snake of the genus Hydrophys and allied genera. These snakes are venomous, live upon fishes, and have a flattened tail for swimming.
ICHNEUMON n.
Palestine, is noted for destroying the eggs and young of the crocodile as well as various snakes and lizards, and hence was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The common species of India (H. griseus), known as the mongoose, has similar habits and is often domesticated. It is noted for killing the cobra.…
IMITATE v.
ntation, or instinctive habits, so as to derive an advantage thereby; sa, when a harmless snake imitates a venomous one in color and manner, or when an odorless insect imitates, in color, one having secretion offensive to birds.
INDIGO a.
with indigo blue, obtained from crude indigo as a dark brown amorphous powder. -- Indigo snake (Zoöl.), the gopher snake. -- Indigo white, a white crystalline powder obtained by reduction from indigo blue, and by oxidation easily changed back to it; -- called also indigogen. -- Indigo yellow, a substance obtained fr…
INFURIATE v.
To render furious; to enrage; to exasperate. Those curls of entangled snakes with which Erinys is said to have infuriated Athemas and Ino. Dr. H. More.
INTERVOLUTION n.
The state of being intervolved or coiled up; a convolution; as, the intervolutions of a snake. Hawthorne.
KRAIT n.
A very venomous snake of India (Bungarus coeruleus), allied to the cobra. Its upper parts are bluish or brownish black, often with narrow white streaks; the belly is whitish.
LANCE n.
Lance corporal, same as Lancepesade. -- Lance knight, a lansquenet. B. Jonson. -- Lance snake (Zoöl.), the fer-de-lance. -- Stink-fire lance (Mil.), a kind of fuse filled with a composition which burns with a suffocating odor; -- used in the counter operations of miners. To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or cont…
LANGAHA n.
A curious colubriform snake of the genus Xyphorhynchus, from Madagascar. It is brownish red, and its hose is prolonged in the form of a sharp blade.
LETTERWOOD n.
o called from black spots in it which bear some resemblance to hieroglyphics; also called snakewood, and leopardwood. It is much used for bows and for walking sticks.
LIZARD n.
etens of the Southern United States and West Indies; -- called also sand pike. -- Lizard snake (Zoöl.), the garter snake (Eutænia sirtalis). -- Lizard stone (Min.), a kind of serpentine from near Lizard Point, Cornwall, England, -- used for ornamental purposes.
LUDICROUS a.
German rhetoric would be in the same ludicrous predicament as Van Troil's chapter on the snakes of Iceland, which delivers its business in one summary sentence, announcing, that snakes in Iceland -- there are none. De Quincey.
MASSASAUGA n.
The black rattlesnake (Crotalus, or Caudisona, tergemina), found in the Mississippi Valley.
MILK n.
to the presence of certain plants in their food, and to polluted drinking water. -- Milk snake (Zoöl.), a harmless American snake (Ophibolus triangulus, or O. eximius). It is variously marked with white, gray, and red. Called also milk adder, chicken snake, house snake, etc. -- Milk sugar. (Physiol. Chem.) See Lactos…
MOCCASIN n.
A poisonous snake of the Southern United States. The water moccasin (Ancistrodon piscivorus) is usually found in or near water. Above, it is olive brown, barred with black; beneath, it is brownish yellow, mottled with darker. The upland moccasin is Ancistrodon atrofuscus. They resemble rattlesnakes, but are without rat…
NECKLACED a.
Wearing a necklace; marked as with a necklace. The hooded and the necklaced snake. Sir W. Jones.
OPHIDIAN n.
One of the Ophidia; a snake or serpent.
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