puff adder

noun

1

: a large thick-bodied extremely venomous African viper (Bitis arietans)

2

: hognose snake

Examples of puff adder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The one in particular that gave them trouble was the puff adder, which—like southern Pacific rattlesnakes—is an ambush predator. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2018

An ambushing puff adder is both camouflaged and unsmellable to predators. —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 7 Feb. 2017

An ambusher's arsenal: chemical crypsis in the puff adder (Bitis arietans). —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 21 Dec. 2015

This kind of behavioral segmentation had never been observed before, which the researchers say is odd given how common the puff adder is throughout Africa and is frequently kept in captivity. —Troy Farah, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2019

But only one snake uses both its tail and its tongue to lure prey: the African puff adder. —Troy Farah, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2019

The 22-year-old, who owned a venomous puff adder, was treated with anti-venom in Connolly Hospital, the Irish Post reported last month. —Fox News, 7 Mar. 2020

This was apparently the case with the man who was bitten in late February by a puff adder, a venomous snake native to semiarid regions (i.e., not Ireland). —Gillian Brockell, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Mar. 2020

The researchers captured puff adder shy sharks in a harbor in Cape Town, South Africa, and transported them to a government research aquarium, where the fish acclimated for four months. —Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for puff adder

• gallbladder
• stepladder
• bladder
• ladder
• madder
• sadder

Kids Definition

puff adder

noun

: hognose snake

Medical Definition

puff adder

noun

: a large thick-bodied exceedingly venomous widely distributed African viper (Bitis arietans) that inflates its body and hisses loudly when disturbed

also : a similar smaller snake (B. inornata) of southern Africa