Adjacent Words

serpent eater definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Secretary Sec"re*ta*ry, n.; pl. Secretaries. [F. secr['e]taire (cf. Pr. secretari, Sp. & Pg. secretario, It. secretario, segretario) LL. secretarius, originally, a confidant, one intrusted with secrets, from L. secretum a secret. See Secret, a. & n.] 1. One who keeps, or is intrusted with, secrets. [R.] 2. A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches, public or private papers, records, and the like; an official scribe, amanuensis, or writer; one who attends to correspondence, and transacts other business, for an association, a public body, or an individual. That which is most of all profitable is acquaintance with the secretaries, and employed men of ambassadors. --Bacon. 3. An officer of state whose business is to superintend and manage the affairs of a particular department of government, and who is usually a member of the cabinet or advisory council of the chief executive; as, the secretary of state, who conducts the correspondence and attends to the relations of a government with foreign courts; the secretary of the treasury, who manages the department of finance; the secretary of war, etc. 4. A piece of furniture, with conveniences for writing and for the arrangement of papers; an escritoire. 5. (Zo["o]l.) The secretary bird. Secretary Bird. [So called in allusion to the tufts of feathers at the back of its head, which were fancifully thought to resemble pens stuck behind the ear.] (Zo["o]l.) A large long-legged raptorial bird (Gypogeranus serpentarius), native of South Africa, but now naturalized in the West Indies and some other tropical countries. It has a powerful hooked beak, a crest of long feathers, and a long tail. It feeds upon reptiles of various kinds, and is much prized on account of its habit of killing and devouring snakes of all kinds. Called also serpent eater. Syn: See the Note under Clerk, n., 4.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Serpent Ser"pent, n. [F., fr. L. serpens, -entis (sc. bestia), fr. serpens, p. pr. of serpere to creep; akin to Gr. ???, Skr. sarp, and perhaps to L. repere, E. reptile. Cf. Herpes.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any reptile of the order Ophidia; a snake, especially a large snake. See Illust. under Ophidia. Note: The serpents are mostly long and slender, and move partly by bending the body into undulations or folds and pressing them against objects, and partly by using the free edges of their ventral scales to cling to rough surfaces. Many species glide swiftly over the ground, some burrow in the earth, others live in trees. A few are entirely aquatic, and swim rapidly. See Ophidia, and Fang. 2. Fig.: A subtle, treacherous, malicious person. 3. A species of firework having a serpentine motion as it passess through the air or along the ground. 4. (Astron.) The constellation Serpens. 5. (Mus.) A bass wind instrument, of a loud and coarse tone, formerly much used in military bands, and sometimes introduced into the orchestra; -- so called from its form. Pharaoh's serpent (Chem.), mercuric sulphocyanate, a combustible white substance which in burning gives off a poisonous vapor and leaves a peculiar brown voluminous residue which is expelled in a serpentine from. It is employed as a scientific toy. Serpent cucumber (Bot.), the long, slender, serpentine fruit of the cucurbitaceous plant Trichosanthes colubrina; also, the plant itself. Serpent eage (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of raptorial birds of the genera Circa["e]tus and Spilornis, which prey on serpents. They inhabit Africa, Southern Europe, and India. The European serpent eagle is Circa["e]tus Gallicus. Serpent eater. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The secretary bird. (b) An Asiatic antelope; the markhoor. Serpent fish (Zo["o]l.), a fish (Cepola rubescens) with a long, thin, compressed body, and a band of red running lengthwise. Serpent star (Zo["o]l.), an ophiuran; a brittle star. Serpent's tongue (Paleon.), the fossil tooth of a shark; -- so called from its resemblance to a tongue with its root. Serpent withe (Bot.), a West Indian climbing plant (Aristolochia odoratissima). Tree serpent (Zo["o]l.), any species of African serpents belonging to the family Dendrophid[ae].