green snaken.
/ˈɡriːn ˌsneɪk/, U.S. /ˈɡrin ˌsneɪk/ 1. Either of two slender North American colubrid snakes of the genus Opheodrys, which have large eyes and green bodies with yellowish undersides.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > genus Opheodrys > opheodrys vernalis (green snake)
green snake1699
grass snake1720
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > genus Opheodrys > opheodrys aestivus
green snake1699
summer snake1802
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. ii. 63 The green Snakes are no bigger about than a Man's Thumb, yet 4 or 5 foot long: The Backs are of a very lively green Colour.
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 132 Green-Snakes are very small, tho' pretty.
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina 275 The green snake is a beautiful innocent creature.
1880 Libr. Universal Knowl. VII. 84 Green Snake..common through most of the U.S...; long, slender, and entirely harmless.
1960 H. S. Zim Guide to Everglades 33 Green snake of this area is the rough species, marked by a ridge on each of its scales.
2001 Pheasants Forever Summer 65/1 The Blandings Turtle, once fairly common, and the Western Smooth Green Snake live on Kirchner.
2. Any of several plants regarded as resembling a green snake; esp. any of various cacti belonging (or formerly belonging) to the genus Cereus, having snake-like stems (also green snake cactus). Now rare.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti
hedgehog thistle1597
Opuntia1601
mescal1709
Barbados gooseberry1756
night-flowering cereus1789
vygebosch1795
night-blooming cereus1799
rhipsalis1819
pigface1830
window plant1838
old man cactus1845
cholla1846
fish-hook cactus1846
spleenwort1846
epiphyllum1858
old man's head1858
rainbow cactus1860
green snake1864
torchwood1866
queen of the night1870
vingerpol1875
nipple cactus1876
niggerhead1877
rat's tail cactus1878
rat-tail cactus1878
Christmas cactus1880
barrel cactus1881
peyote1885
mistletoe cactus1889
schlumbergera1898
pincushion1940
opuntioid1944
1864 Gardener's Monthly Aug. 236/2 We look with expectant eyes to the place where we last saw our ‘green snake’. Behold! growing out from the stem a large flower of dazzling beauty appears.
1883 A. J. Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 17 One of the most remarkable of them [sc. air-plants] is the green-snake, which looks exactly like a long serpent made of coloured india-rubber.
1901 Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc. 33 212 (table) Cereus triangularis. Green Snake... Cereus flagelliformis. Small Green Snake.
1933 House & Garden Jan. 62/2 The stark white archway of the gate will have blackish green snake Cactus (night-blooming Cereus) clinging to it and amazing the night with its luminous white blossoms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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