anaconda

¹ American  

[an-uh-kon-duh] / ˌæn əˈkɒn də /

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.

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Anaconda ² American  

[an-uh-kon-duh] / ˌæn əˈkɒn də /

noun

1. a city in SW Montana.

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anaconda British  

/ 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)

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Etymology

Origin of anaconda

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

Explanation

An anaconda is an enormous South American snake that's a great swimmer. Adult anacondas are large enough to prey on deer, capybaras, and even young jaguars. Anacondas spend most of their time in swamps and rivers. They are non-venomous, constrictor snakes that suffocate their prey and eat it whole. The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world by weight, with females growing up to 500 pounds and about 17 feet long. It is one of very few snakes that is theoretically big enough to eat a human — but that has never happened. Etymologists have various theories about the origin of the word anaconda, including the Tamil anaikkonda, "having killed an elephant."

Example Sentences

They also saw an anaconda in the water, he said.

From BBC • May 3, 2025

Professor Fry said the northern green anaconda species diverged from the southern green anaconda almost 10 million years ago, and they differ genetically by 5.5 per cent.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024

“It’s important, because the newly described northern green anaconda has a much smaller range than the southern, and so that means it’s much more vulnerable,” says Fry.

From National Geographic • Feb. 16, 2024

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 • Jun. 10, 2023

“Your mom would do that too, with one pinky, while fighting off that anaconda with her other hand. To protect you, she’d do just about anything.”

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers