Join Us On

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

Medical

Scrabble^®

Spanish Central

Browse Dictionary Browse Thesaurus

Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android

Dictionary

¹snake

noun \ˈsnāk\

: an animal that has a long, thin body and no arms or legs

: a bad person who tells lies and betrays other people

: a long thin tool that is used to clear out blocked pipes

Full Definition of SNAKE

: any of numerous limbless scaled reptiles (suborder Serpentes syn. Ophidia) with a long tapering body and with salivary glands often modified to produce venom which is injected through grooved or tubular fangs

: a worthless or treacherous fellow

: something (as a plumber's snake) resembling a snake

— snake·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

See snake defined for English-language learners

See snake defined for kids

Origin of SNAKE

Middle English, from Old English snaca; akin to Old Norse snakr snake, Old High German snahhan to crawl

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to SNAKE

Synonyms: serpent, viper

Rhymes with SNAKE

ache, bake, brake, break, cake, crake, drake, Drake, fake, flake, hake, jake, lake, make, quake, rake, sake, shake, slake, stake, steak, strake, take, wake

²snake

verb

: to move like a snake : to follow a twisting path with many turns

snakedsnak·ing

Full Definition of SNAKE

transitive verb

: to wind (as one's way) in the manner of a snake

: to move (as logs) by dragging

intransitive verb

: to crawl, move, or extend silently, secretly, or sinuously

See snake defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of SNAKE

1653

Related to SNAKE

Synonyms: lurk, mooch, mouse, pussyfoot, shirk, skulk, slide, slink, slip, sneak, steal

Snake

geographical name \ˈsnāk\

Definition of SNAKE

river 1038 miles (1670 kilometers) NW United States flowing from NW Wyoming across S Idaho & into Columbia River in Washington

SNAKE Defined for Kids

¹snake

noun \ˈsnāk\

Definition of SNAKE for Kids

: a limbless reptile that has a long body with scales and feeds usually on large insects or small animals and birds

: a person who is mean or can't be trusted

²snake

verb

snakedsnak·ing

Definition of SNAKE for Kids

: to crawl, wind, or move like a snake <The parade snaked its way along Main Street.>

Medical Dictionary

snake

noun \ˈsnāk\

Medical Definition of SNAKE

: any of numerous limbless scaled reptiles (suborder Serpentes synonym Ophidia) with a long tapering body and with salivary glands often modified to produce venom which is injected through grooved or tubular fangs