Etymology From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“slider, snake”), from *snakan (“to creep, slide”), related to Old High German snahhan (“to sneak, slide”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *snēkô (“creeper, crawler”). Cognate with German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Danish snog (“grass snake”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk snåk (“viper, adder”), Faroese snákur (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”).
Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptiles with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues.
The man writhed like a trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips.1892, Oscar Wilde, A House of Pomegranates:
After dark the train is a lighted snake, as, even when the passengers' lights are out, each carriage has a side-light in the middle just under the eaves.1950 April, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Kenya-Uganda Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:
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Figuratively A person who acts deceitfully for personal or social gain; a treacherous person.
Near-synonyms: rat; see also Thesaurus:betrayer
Mrs. Kenwigs was horror-stricken to think that she should ever have nourished in her bosom such a snake, adder, viper, serpent, and base crocodile, as Henrietta Petowker.1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:
2 more examples
Well, if it was Moore, he's a fucking snake.2021, Peter McKenna, 5:51 from the start, in Kin, season 1, episode 2, spoken by Frank Kinsella (Aidan Gillen):
[Friedrich] Kadgien—described by US interrogators as “not a true Nazi” but “a snake of the lowest sort”—subsequently left Switzerland for Brazil then Argentina, the paper said, where he started a company and a family and died in 1978, aged 71.2025 August 26, Jon Henley, “Old master painting looted by Nazis spotted in Argentinian property listing”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2025:
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A tool for unclogging plumbing.
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A tool to aid cable pulling.
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Australia, UK A flavoured jube (confectionary) in the shape of a snake.
Yo, bare people and the snakes, yeah, they're just grass / Next minute you're the mate, yeah / Next day stab in the back2017 April 7, “War Dub”, performed by Little T (Josh Tate):
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skateboarding, SportsSlang A person who interferes with another's run or who takes their run out of turn.
The snake failed to provide an anchor for currency stability and, through it, disinflation.2001, W. Bonefeld, The Politics of Europe: Monetary Union and Class, page 69:
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Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of black snake (“firework that creates a trail of ash”).
Etymology From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“slider, snake”), from *snakan (“to creep, slide”), related to Old High German snahhan (“to sneak, slide”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *snēkô (“creeper, crawler”). Cognate with German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Danish snog (“grass snake”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk snåk (“viper, adder”), Faroese snákur (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”).
Any Brisbane female interested in snaking down a few beers whilst watching the footy on a big screen?1996 September 24, Mark Addinall, “Football fever...”, in aus.personals (Usenet):
=Every summer brought the prospect of the dragonships snaking their way upriver, each vessel filled with thirty or more rapacious thugs.1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 77:
Opened in June of that year [1880], the station was the southern terminus of the much-lamented Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (the S&D or 'Slow and Dirty'), which snaked its way down from Bath.2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, pages 59–60:
Although it wouldn't be the first time some one patented an idea that I'd had a year earlier.[…]Someone already has :)[…]F*CK ME !! Snaked again !2001 April 5, Hyena, “Home made supercharger ?”, in aus.cars (Usenet):
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To clean using a plumbing snake.
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US, Informal To drag or draw, as a snake from a hole; often with out.
November 27 1835, N.B. St. John, letter to George Thompson his wife and children shall not be forced to flee from the hearth of a friend, lest they should be snaked out by men in civic authority
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Nautical, Transport To wind round spirally, as a large rope with a smaller, or with cord, the small rope lying in the spaces between the strands of the large one; to worm.
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Skateboarding, SportsSlang To interfere with another's run or to take one's run out of turn.
Snaking is the number one way to get hurt and/or get rejected by existing scenes at your local skatepark or street spot.2026 May 5 (last accessed), “Skate Etiquette | Sidewalk Basics”, in Sidewalk Magazine, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2026: