cerastes

American  

[suh-ras-teez] / səˈræs tiz /

noun

plural

cerastes

1. any of several small vipers of the genus Cerastes, including the horned viper, that have a sideways looping motion like that of a sidewinder and inhabit deserts of northern Africa and southwestern Asia.

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cerastes British  

/ səˈræstiːz /

noun

1. any venomous snake of the genus Cerastes, esp the horned viper

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Etymology

Origin of cerastes

1768; < New Latin < Greek kerástēs literally, something horned, equivalent to kerat- stem of kéras horn + -tēs noun suffix; earlier in sense “asp,” Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin, as above

Example Sentences

The rattlesnake Crotalus cerastes is venomous to humans.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022

He is called the cerastes, and is venomous, I believe, though not one of the worst kinds of poisonous snakes.

From Hair-Breadth Escapes The Adventures of Three Boys in South Africa by Adams, H.C.

In Egypt, on the other hand, the cobra, the asp, and the cerastes are as numerous as ever, and are much dreaded by all the natives except the professional snake charmers.

From The Earth as Modified by Human Action by Marsh, George P.

Of all the deadly worms that breed in these wildernesses the most formidable, because the most sluggish, is the two-horned nocturnal cerastes, the "pretty worm of Nilus."

From Fountains in the Sand Rambles Among the Oases of Tunisia by Douglas, Norman

"Parum Lutherus ac Erasmus differunt Serpens uterque est, plenus atro toxico; Sed ille mordet ut cerastes in via, Hic fraudulentus mordet in silentio."

From Notes and Queries, Number 02, November 10, 1849 by Various