boomslang, noun
- Forms:
- Also baum slang, boem-slang, and with initial capital.
- Plurals:
- boomslange /ˈbʊəmslaŋə/, boomslangs, or unchanged.
- Origin:
- South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, boom tree + slang snake.
The venomous arboreal snake Dispholidus typus of the Colubridae; tree-snake. Also attributive.
1796 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. II. 23A serpent, called Boomslang, was said to get into the trees, and swallow the birds it found there.
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