viper
nounUS /ˈvaɪpɚ/
Etymology From Middle French vipere, from Old French vipre, from Latin vīpera, contracted from vīvipara f (“viviparous”, adj.), from vīvus (“alive”, adj.) + parere (“to bear”, verb). Doublet of weever and wyvern.
1
A venomous snake in the family Viperidae.
2
Informal Any venomous snake.
3
Figuratively A dangerous, treacherous, or malignant person.
- And aggravate my folly who committed / To ſuch a viper his moſt ſacred truſt / Of ſecreſie, my ſafety, and my life.1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 62:
- Consider, for the love of Heaven, to what you run madly: will you take this viper into your bed?1879, Francis Beaumont, The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher: The Text Formed from a New Collation of the Early Editions, Volume 1, D. Appleton, page 350:
1 more example
- Then there's the heterosexual, open-mined ^([sic]) entourage who loves us dearly and are our best friends. They laugh at our humor and understand our sorrow. For they are rare and unique in prison. But the vipers always ruin things. They refer to our straight friends as "Closet-Cases," "Undercovers," and "Flip-Floppers."1990 December 16, Gianni Comes, “Not Just Homophobia”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 4:
4
Slang A person who smokes marijuana.
- Dreamed about a reefer five feet long / Mighty Mezz, but not too strong / You'll be high but not for long / If you're a vipera. 1936, Stuff Smith, “If You're a Viper”:
- Derived terms
29 terms
blunt-nosed viper, carpet viper, chain viper, dilute Russell's viper venom time, eyelash bush viper, eyelash viper, Gabon viper, Gaboon viper, gaboon viper, green pit viper, horned viper, lowlands hump-nosed pit viper, Nikolsky's viper, nourish a viper in one's bosom, pitless viper, pit viper, red viper, Russell's viper, Russell's viper venom clotting time, Russell's viper venom time, sand viper, saw-scaled viper, shore pit viper, spider-tailed horned viper, temple viper, viperfish, viperish, viper's bugloss, viper's grass