snakehead
nounEtymology From snake + head.
1
Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology A family of perciform fish native to Africa and Asia, Channidae.
- Through this plantation ran a creek full of snakeheads and eels, its overflow swelling the swamp around it.2015, Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring, Man Tiger, Verso, page 1:
2
Slang A Chinese smuggler, especially one who smuggles people.
- Why would they want to run? -- To get away from the snakeheads. -- What's that? -- The snakeheads pay to get them here and then they gotta work off what they owe.2008, Frozen River, 00:33:10:
- […] but snakeheads involved in air smuggling may venture into sea smuggling. A thirty-two-year-old housewife from Fuzhou who left China by boat alleged that her snakehead was involved in both.2011, David Kyle, Rey Koslowski, Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives, page 190:
3
US, Derogatory, Ethnic, Slang, Slur A black person.
4
A showy perennial plant, Chelone glabra, found in North American marshlands; the turtlehead
5
Rail transport, Railways, Transport US A loose, bent-up end of one of the strap rails, or flat rails, formerly used on American railroads.
6
Alternative, Rare Alternative form of snake's head, various not closely related species of flowering plant, including Fritillaria meleagris.
- Derived terms
- giant snakehead, northern snakehead