SNAKE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Snake mean? 

• SNAKE (noun)
  The noun SNAKE has 6 senses:

1. limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

2. a deceitful or treacherous person

3. a tributary of the Columbia River that rises in Wyoming and flows westward; discovered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition

4. a long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and Cancer

5. something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake

6. a long flexible steel coil for dislodging stoppages in curved pipes

  Familiarity information: SNAKE used as a noun is common.

• SNAKE (verb)
  The verb SNAKE has 3 senses:

1. move smoothly and sinuously, like a snake

2. form a snake-like pattern

3. move along a winding path

  Familiarity information: SNAKE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SNAKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

ophidian; serpent; snake

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

diapsid; diapsid reptile (reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

colubrid; colubrid snake (mostly harmless temperate-to-tropical terrestrial or arboreal or aquatic snakes)

blind snake; worm snake (wormlike burrowing snake of warm regions having vestigial eyes)

constrictor (any of various large nonvenomous snakes that kill their prey by crushing it in its coils)

elapid; elapid snake (any of numerous venomous fanged snakes of warmer parts of both hemispheres)

sea snake (any of numerous venomous aquatic viviparous snakes having a fin-like tail; of warm littoral seas; feed on fish which they immobilize with quick-acting venom)

viper (venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw)

Holonyms ("snake" is a member of...):

Ophidia; Serpentes; suborder Ophidia; suborder Serpentes (snakes)

Derivation:

snaky (resembling a serpent in form)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A deceitful or treacherous person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

snake; snake in the grass

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

bad person (a person who does harm to others)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A tributary of the Columbia River that rises in Wyoming and flows westward; discovered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Snake; Snake River

Instance hypernyms:

river (a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek))

Meronyms (parts of "Snake"):

Twin; Twin Falls (a waterfall in the Snake River in southern Idaho)

Holonyms ("Snake" is a part of...):

Gem State; ID; Id.; Idaho (a state in the Rocky Mountains)

Beaver State; OR; Ore.; Oregon; Evergreen State; WA; Wash.; Washington (a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific)

Equality State; WY; Wyo.; Wyoming (a state in the western United States; mountainous in the west and north with the Great Plains in the east)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A long faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near the equator stretching between Virgo and Cancer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Hydra; Snake

Instance hypernyms:

constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

object; physical object (a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

closet auger (a snake used to unblock toilets)

auger; plumber's snake; snake (a long flexible steel coil for dislodging stoppages in curved pipes)

Derivation:

snake (move smoothly and sinuously, like a snake)

snake (form a snake-like pattern)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A long flexible steel coil for dislodging stoppages in curved pipes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

auger; plumber's snake; snake

Hypernyms ("snake" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "snake"):

trap-and-drain auger (a plumber's snake for clearing a trap and drain)

• SNAKE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they snake    ... he / she / it snakes   
Past simple: snaked   
Past participle: snaked   
-ing form: snaking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move smoothly and sinuously, like a snake

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

glide (move smoothly and effortlessly)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form a snake-like pattern

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The river snakes through the valley

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

curve; twist; wind (extend in curves and turns)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

snake (something long, thin, and flexible that resembles a snake)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move along a winding path

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The army snaked through the jungle

Hypernyms (to "snake" is one way to...):

meander; thread; wander; weave; wind (to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

Then I thought of the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning light revealed it to the victim.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For a minute she stared at it as if it had been a snake, then she read her letter and began to cry.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The researchers note that for venomous snakes other than the ‘big four’ there is no specific anti-venom.

(‘India needs region-specific snakebite antivenoms’, SciDev.Net)

Suddenly he snapped, striking with his fangs like a snake.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This means people affected by snake bites turn to poor-quality, cheaper anti-venoms.

(Snakebite resolution set for Health Assembly approval, SciDev.Net)

To make matters worse, the place seemed to be a favorite breeding-place of the Jaracaca snake, the most venomous and aggressive in South America.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I would not, therefore, immediately charm the snake.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The snake skeleton itself, though missing a head, is about 1.9 inches long (47.5 mm).

(Cretaceous baby snake fossil found in Myanmar, Wikinews)

Sooner would I bite living toad or poisoned snake.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He knew how to take advantage of every cover, to crawl on his belly like a snake, and like a snake to leap and strike.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)