pit viper

pit viper
pit viper n any of various mostly New World highly specialized venomous snakes (as the rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin, and fer-de-lance) that belong to a subfamily (Crotalinae) of the family Viperidae, that have a small depression on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril, and that have hollow perforated fangs usu. folded back in the upper part of the mouth but erected in striking

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crotalid (def. 1).

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pit viper — Pit Viper …   Wikipedia

  • Pit viper — Pit Pit, n. [OE. pit, put, AS. pytt a pit, hole, L. puteus a well, pit.] 1. A large cavity or hole in the ground, either natural or artificial; a cavity in the surface of a body; an indentation; specifically: (a) The shaft of a coal mine; a coal… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pit viper — n. any of a subfamily (Crotalinae) of poisonous vipers with a prominent, heat sensitive pit on each side of the head, as the rattlesnake or copperhead …   English World dictionary

  • pit-viper — pit viper, water, work etc.: see pit n.1 14 …   Useful english dictionary

  • pit viper — noun New World vipers with hollow fangs and a heat sensitive pit on each side of the head • Hypernyms: ↑viper • Hyponyms: ↑copperhead, ↑Agkistrodon contortrix, ↑water moccasin, ↑cottonmouth, ↑cottonmouth moccasin, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • pit viper — pit′ vi per n. ram any of various vipers, as the rattlesnake and copperhead, that have a heat sensitive pit above each nostril • Etymology: 1880–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • pit viper — any of numerous venomous snakes of the family Crotalidae, of the New World, Asia, and the Malay Archipelago, as the rattlesnake, water moccasin, and copperhead, having a heat sensitive pit on each side of the head between the eye and nostril.… …   Universalium

  • pit viper — /ˈpɪt vaɪpə/ (say pit vuypuh) noun any of the snakes of the subfamily Crotalinae, with a wide distribution in the Old and New Worlds, having a pit on each side of the head in front of the eye …  

  • pit viper — noun Date: circa 1885 any of various mostly New World vipers (subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae) with a sensory pit on each side of the head and hollow perforated retractable fangs …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • pit viper — noun Any of various venomous snakes, of the family Crotalinae, found in Asia and the Americas, with a deep pit or fossa on either side of the head that enables them to detect prey by infrared. Syn: crotaline …   Wiktionary

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