anaconda

¹

[ an-uh-kon-duh ]

noun

1. a South American boa, Eunectes murinus, that often grows to a length of more than 25 feet (7.6 meters).
2. any large boa.
3. Cards. a variety of poker in which each player is dealt seven cards, discards two, and turns up one of the remaining five before each betting round.

Anaconda

²

[ an-uh-kon-duh ]

noun

1. a city in SW Montana.

anaconda

/ ˌænəˈkɒndə /

noun

1. a very large nonvenomous arboreal and semiaquatic snake, Eunectes murinus, of tropical South America, which kills its prey by constriction: family Boidae (boas)

Word History and Origins

Origin of anaconda¹

1760–70; misapplication of a name originally used for a snake of Sri Lanka; earlier anacandaia < Sinhalese henakandayā kind of snake

Word History and Origins

Origin of anaconda¹

C18: probably changed from Sinhalese henakandayā whip snake, from hena lightning + kanda stem; originally referring to a snake of Sri Lanka

Example Sentences

Mosasaurs weren't dinosaurs, but giant marine lizards, relatives of today's Komodo dragons and anacondas, which ruled the oceans 66 million years ago, during the era of Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops.

From Science Daily

A team of scientists on location with a film crew in the remote Amazon has uncovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda.

From Science Daily

After running the genetic data, they found a clear divide between anacondas sampled in the northern part of the range as opposed to those in the south.

From National Geographic

For centuries this landscape, shaped by ancient rivers, has been shared by ranchers and cattle, which learned to coexist with jaguars, panthers, anacondas, electric eels and crocodiles.

From New York Times

In 2021, researchers discovered two female California Condors were able to reproduce without males while two years earlier, a female anaconda got pregnant by herself in a Boston aquarium.

From Salon