pit viper

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

pit viper

Any of various venomous snakes of the subfamily Crotalinae, such as the copperhead, rattlesnake, or fer-de-lance, characterized by a small sensory pit below each eye.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pit viper

(Animals) any venomous snake of the New World family Crotalidae, having a heat-sensitive organ in a pit on each side of the head: includes the rattlesnakes

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pit′ vi`per

any of various vipers, as the rattlesnake and copperhead, that have a heat-sensitive pit above each nostril.

[1880–85]

pit viper

Any of various venomous snakes having a small pit below each eye that is used to sense heat. Their fangs are hollow and folded back in the mouth when the snake is not striking prey. Pit vipers are mostly found in the Western Hemisphere and include the cottonmouth and rattlesnakes.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

pit viper - New World vipers with hollow fangs and a heat-sensitive pit on each side of the head

viper - venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw

Crotalidae, family Crotalidae - New World vipers: pit vipers

Agkistrodon contortrix, copperhead - common coppery brown pit viper of upland eastern United States

Agkistrodon piscivorus, cottonmouth, cottonmouth moccasin, water moccasin - venomous semiaquatic snake of swamps in southern United States

rattler, rattlesnake - pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken

Bothrops atrops, fer-de-lance - large extremely venomous pit viper of Central America and South America

References in periodicals archive ?

For instance, BHP Billiton is using Pit Viper 271 rotary blasthole drill rigs for its mining operations in Western Australia.

Global Copper Mining Market Report 2019 Featuring Codelco, Glencore, BHP Billiton, Southern Copper, Freeport

Oral bacterial flora of the Chinese cobra (Naja atra) and bamboo pit viper (Trimeresurus albolabris) in Hong Kong SAR, China.

Drug usage in the management of snake bite patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital--A retrospective study

10 QUESTIONS: 1 Edgar Allan Poe, 2 Worsted, 3 Portugal, 4 Trains, 5 Elton John, 6 A snake (pit viper), 7 The Last Temptation of Christ, 8 Middleton, 9 The Gordian knot (tied by King Godius), 10 Kiwifruit

Time out extra

According to the company, the CroFab is the only available US FDA-approved product for all North American pit viper envenomations in adult and pediatric patients.

BTG plc wins US FDA's approval for the launch of the updated antivenom, CroFab

He said that the fingers had to be amputated after being bitten by a cobra and a brown spotted pit viper.

Last serpent shop shutters in Taipei's Snake Alley

This capability exists for Epiroc's largest drill rigs, its high-production Pit Viper line.

Quarry Services Drills Down: Georgia Drilling Contractor Provides Computer-Based Confidence in Every Hole

A retrospective analysis showed that these bites were due to a snake called Malabar pit viper which is indigenous to this region and the antivenin doesn't have any activity against this type of snake bites.

A STUDY ON POISONOUS SNAKEBITES FROM NORTHERN KERALA

26, a package supposedly containing pastries and bound for Sweden was found containing a pit viper, four Philippine cobras and 10 sailfin lizards.

Taiwan-bound turtles, eels intercepted at Naia

(7) 2 Not working (4) 3 Feeling (7) 4 Enduring without complaint (7) 5 An overwhelming defeat (4) 6 Ideal (7) 7 Pit viper with a noisy tail (11) 8 Favourite who can do no wrong (4-4,3) 12 First appearance (5) 13 Drink made from apples (5) 16 Nobleman (7) 17 Someone who betrays (7) 18 Put into print (7) 19 Cook in a lot of fat (4-3) 23 Strap for holding trousers up (4) 24 Fibber (4) HOW TO ENTER: Call 0901 293 2345 (PS1/call).

PS500 Star search

Case Report: We present the case of a 32-year-old Romanian woman who was injured by her own Crotalinae snake (also known as pit viper or rattlesnake) on her left forearm.

The Compartment Syndrome Associated with Deep Vein Thrombosis due to Rattlesnake Bite: A Case Report

With pit viper bites, you can usually see single or multiple bleeding puncture wounds.