green snake

green snake
any slender, green snake of the genus Opheodrys, of North America, feeding chiefly on insects.
[1700-10, Amer.]

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 any of several species belonging to the family Colubridae, named for their colour. The North American green snakes are the two species of the genus Opheodrys. These docile, slender, harmless snakes often live in gardens. They lay eggs, and they subsist on insects and spiders. The smooth green snake (Opheodrys vernalis), sometimes called green grass snake, is about 50 cm (20 inches) long. The rough, or keeled (ridged), green snake (O. aestivus), often called vine snake, is about 75 cm (23 inches) long.

      The African green snakes (Chlorophis) have keeled ventral plates and are arboreal. Others of this genus are found in eastern and southern Asia.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Green snake — Snake Snake, n. [AS. snaca; akin to LG. snake, schnake, Icel. sn[=a]kr, sn?kr, Dan. snog, Sw. snok; of uncertain origin.] (Zo[ o]l.) Any species of the order Ophidia; an ophidian; a serpent, whether harmless or venomous. See {Ophidia}, and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Green Snake — (Ching Se) est un film hong kongais réalisé par Tsui Hark, sorti en 1993. Sommaire 1 Synopsis 2 Fiche technique 3 Distribution 4 Autour du film …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Green snake — Green Green (gr[=e]n), a. [Compar. {Greener} (gr[=e]n [ e]r); superl. {Greenest.}] [OE. grene, AS. gr[=e]ne; akin to D. groen, OS. gr[=o]ni, OHG. gruoni, G. gr[ u]n, Dan. & Sw. gr[ o]n, Icel. gr[ae]nn; fr. the root of E. grow. See {Grow.}] 1.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • green snake — green′ snake n. ram any slender, green colubrine snake of the genus Opheodrys, of North America • Etymology: 1700–10, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • green snake — ☆ green snake n. any of a genus (Opheodrys) of harmless, small and slender, green colubrid snakes of North America …   English World dictionary

  • Green Snake — Infobox Film name = Green Snake director = Tsui Hark producer = Tsui Hark Ng See Yuen writer = Lilian Lee (novel) Tsui Hark starring = Maggie Cheung Joey Wong Vincent Zhao Wu Hsing Kuo released = 1993 runtime = 99 minutes country = flagicon|Hong… …   Wikipedia

  • green snake — noun 1. any of numerous African colubrid snakes • Hypernyms: ↑colubrid snake, ↑colubrid • Member Holonyms: ↑Chlorophis, ↑genus Chlorophis 2. either of two North American chiefly insectivorous snakes that are green in color • Syn: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • green snake — noun a harmless American snake with a green back and white or yellowish underparts. [Genus Opheodrys: two species.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • green snake — /ˈgrin sneɪk/ (say green snayk) noun any of various snakes which are green or greenish in colour …  

  • green snake — noun Date: 1709 either of two bright green harmless largely insectivorous North American colubrid snakes (Opheodrys vernalis and O. aestivus) …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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