serpent
a snake.
a wily, treacherous, or malicious person.
a firework that burns with a serpentine motion or flame.
an obsolete wooden wind instrument with a serpentine shape and a deep, coarse tone.: Compare ophicleide.
Serpent, Astronomy. the constellation Serpens.
Origin of serpent
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use serpent in a sentence
The songs are filled with stories of tempting serpents and wandering men.
Leaps of Faith: Wrestling With Uncertainty and Finding Grace Through the Music of Hiss Golden Messenger | Howard Wolfson | March 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCertainly the beast sighted on the surface by sailors gave rise to the lore of sea serpents.
Fishy Mystery: Are Beached Oarfish Trying to Tell Us Something? | Kevin Bailey | October 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe species that have seen the most serpents see everything else better, too.
There is a fascination in serpents, and there is one far more deadly—who has not felt it?
The teeth of beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and the sword taking vengeance upon the ungodly unto destruction.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
The foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinThese serpents were of a dark green colour, with beautiful yellow streaks, and about twelve feet in length.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida PfeifferI also saw several battles between large serpents and ichneumons.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
British Dictionary definitions for serpent
/ (ˈsɜːpənt) /
a literary or dialect word for snake
Old Testament a manifestation of Satan as a guileful tempter (Genesis 3:1–5)
a sly, deceitful, or unscrupulous person
an obsolete wind instrument resembling a snake in shape, the bass form of the cornett
a firework that moves about with a serpentine motion when ignited
Origin of serpent
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for serpent
The creature in the Book of Genesis that tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, thus committing the first act of the Fall of Man. In the New Testament, the serpent of Genesis is identified with Satan.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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