Collins English-English Dictionary

snake [sneɪk]

1. 1. n snake in the grass a deceitful or treacherous person

2. 2. n any reptile of the suborder Ophidia (or Serpentes), typically having a scaly cylindrical limbless body, fused eyelids, and a jaw modified for swallowing large prey: includes venomous forms such as cobras and rattlesnakes, large nonvenomous constrictors (boas and pythons), and small harmless types such as the grass snake

3. 3. n anything resembling a snake in appearance or action

4. 4. n (in the European Union) a former system of managing a group of currencies by allowing the exchange rate of each of them only to fluctuate within narrow limits

5. 5. n a tool in the form of a long flexible wire for unblocking drains

6. 6. vi. [intr] to glide or move like a snake

7. 7. vt. [tr] [US] to haul (a heavy object, esp a log) by fastening a rope around one end of it

8. 8. vt. [tr] [US] [often foll by out] to pull jerkily

9. 9. vt. [tr] to move in or follow (a sinuous course)

10. 10. vt. [Etymology] Old English snaca; related to Old Norse snakr snake, Old High German snahhan to crawl, Norwegian snok snail