krait

[krahyt]

krait

[krahyt]
noun
any of several large, usually banded, placid but highly venomous snakes constituting the genus Bungarus, of the cobra family, common in southeastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago.

Origin:
1870–75; < Hindi karait
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Krait is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
krait (kraɪt)
 
n
any nonaggressive brightly coloured venomous elapid snake of the genus Bungarus, of S and SE Asia
 
[C19: from Hindi karait, of obscure origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

krait

any of 12 species of highly venomous snakes belonging to the cobra family (Elapidae). Kraits live in Asian forests and farmland from Pakistan to southern China and southward into Indonesia. They are terrestrial, feeding mainly on other snakes but also on frogs, lizards, and small mammals. Kraits are nocturnal hunters and are dangerous to humans only when stepped on or otherwise strongly provoked.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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