serpent — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A snake.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Literary

   Examples

   He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit. Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.

   Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.

   More examples (1)

   Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.

2. A snake-like creature, such as a sea serpent.

   Examples

   Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.

3. A person who is subtle, malicious, treacherous, or deceiving.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Synonyms

   backstabberdouble-crosser

   Examples

   He is a very serpent in my way.

   More examples (1)

   'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your reward.'

4. An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).

5. A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.

Verb

1. To wind or meander

   Usage

   • Intransitive
   • Obsolete

2. To encircle.

   Usage

   • Obsolete
   • Transitive

   Examples

   fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines

Noun

1. limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

   Synonyms

   snakeophidian

   Broader terms

   diapsiddiapsid reptile

2. a firework that moves in serpentine manner when ignited

   Broader terms

   fireworkpyrotechnic

3. an obsolete bass cornet; resembles a snake

   Broader terms

   cornethorntrumpettrump