rhinocerosn.
/rʌɪˈnɒs(ə)rəs/, U.S. /raɪˈnɑs(ə)rəs/ 1.
a. Any of several large, heavy, ungulate mammals of the perissodactyl family Rhinocerotidae, found in Africa and southern Asia, having one or two horns (made of keratin) on the nose, and a thick folded hide that is typically grey or brown in colour.There are five kinds of living rhinoceros (most of them now rare or endangered), contained in three genera. black, Indian, Javan, Sumatran, white, woolly rhinoceros, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates) > [noun] > with hoof in more than two parts > family Rhinocerotidae > rhinoceros
unicorna1300
rhinocerosa1398
rhinocerota1398
rhinocerite1553
abada1588
horn-nose1598
snout-horn1625
horned-snout1661
rhino1870
rhinocerotine1910
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xc. 1241 Rinoceron [L. Rinoceron] ‘þe vnycorne’ is a wilde beste by kynde and may be ytamed by no wyse.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 6519 Anoþere beeste..þere is Þat hat rinoceros [a1425 Linc. Inn rinocertis].
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 4133 (MED) Sa þai willid in-to a wod was full [of] wild bestis, Rynoceros..þe romance þam callis.
1550 R. Sherry tr. Erasmus Declam. Chyldren in Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Nviiv The same shall helpe.., as is Rhinoceros, whyche is a beaste that hathe a horne in hys nose, naturall enemye to the Elephant.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xvii. 29 Their baitings of wild beasts, as Elephants, Rhinocerons, Tigers, Leopards.
1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 61 A beast..all barred ouer with small plates somewhat like to a Renocero.
1606 J. Coprario Funeral Teares Introd. Rhinoceroes some by their arm'd snowtes I deem'd.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. iii Rinocere, a beast as bigge as an Elephant.
1680 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (1685) 412 The Forests..are full of Rhinocero's.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea II. xxxvi. 227 Rhinoceros's of the size of a large dog.
1799 R. Kirwan Geol. Ess. 68 The remains of elephants and rhinoceri accompanied by marine vegetables.
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. xi. 249 There are four varieties in South Africa..the borèlé or black rhinoceros, the keitloa or two-horned black rhinoceros, the muchocho or common white rhinoceros, and the kobaoba or long-horned white rhinoceros.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting viii. 327 I saw four rhinoceros drinking at the fountain.
1900 F. T. Pollok & W. S. Thom Wild Sports Burma & Assam v. 167 One rhinoceros may have two or three wallows, or mud-holes, which he visits in turn.
1950 R. Ettinghausen Unicorn 35 The squealing or quacking noise made by a rhinoceros when he gets human scent and is alarmed.
1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 330 Rhinoceroses..produce, at best, only a single young every two years.
2003 Wildlife Conservation Oct. 31/1 An adjacent protected area..affords additional protection for cheetahs, African wild dogs, rhinoceroses, and other wildlife.
b. In extended use. A person who resembles a rhinoceros, esp. a thick-skinned person (cf. rhinoceros hide n. (b) at Compounds 2).
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the world > life > the body > bodily height > tallness > [noun] > and broadness > person
giant1559
Hercules1567
Gogmagogc1580
cob1582
Gargantuist1593
hulk1600
rhinoceros1602
colossus1605
pompiona1616
lump1630
strapper1675
man-mountain1726
Brobdingnagian1728
grenadier1805
butt-cut1806
gorilla1884
King Kong1933
hunk1941
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L2v Do'st thou thinke, I'le second ere a Rhinoceros of them all, against thee? View more context for this quotation
1613 J. Marston & W. Barksted Insatiate Countesse i. sig. A4v Mountebancke with thy Pedanticall action, Rimatrix, Buglors, Rhimocers [sic].
1824 G. Soane Pride shall have Fall i. i. 22 Saint Anthony save us! I foresaw it all—Left here alone with this—rhinoceros!
1869 T. Taylor Our Amer. Cousin ii. 29 There's that damned rhinoceros again.
1885 J. Payn Talk of Town I. 160 What is the tune which has set this rhinoceros a dancing?
1950 W. E. Stegner Women on Wall 62 It was a cool reception, but it wasn't cool enough, Mr. Hart thought, for this rhinoceros.
1996 D. W. Colbert tr. S. Schandorph in S. H. Rossel & B. Elbrønd-Bek Christmas in Scand. 34 Down with you, you rhinoceros!
a. = rhinoceros hornbill n. at Compounds 2. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Coraciiformes (kingfisher, etc.) > [noun] > family Bucerotidae (hornbill) > buceros rhinoceros
rhinocerot1613
rhinoceros1614
rhinocerot bird1678
rhinoceros birda1684
rhinoceros hornbill1781
unicorn hornbill1811
rhino bird1905
1614 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) vii. v. 742 Andrea Corsali..mentioneth also a bird, called the Rhinoceros [1613 Rhinocerot] of the Ayre.., hauing..a horne betweene the eies.
1822 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds II. 306 The bill of the Rhinoceros in no instance we have seen is more than twelve [inches].
b. = rhinoceros beetle n. at Compounds 2. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > member of (horned beetle)
dora1450
rhinoceros1658
rhinoceros beetle1681
phyllophagan1842
rhino beetle1951
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) Ep. Ded. sig. Ffff3 The Rhinoceros is of the kinde of great Beetles.
Phrases
† to play the rhinoceros: to turn one's nose up at someone as a sign of contempt; to adopt a sneering or snooty attitude; cf. rhinoceros nose n. at Compounds 2, rhinocerical adj. 2b. Obsolete. rare.
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1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 275. ¶8 When they talk of a Man's cocking his Nose, or playing the Rhinoceros.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
rhinoceros bull n.
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1861 R. K. Philp Walks Abroad & Evenings at Home 269 I presently beheld a black rhinoceros bull, standing within a hundred yards of me.
1921 A. Pryde Nightfall 103 He confessed to having held fire till a charging rhinoceros bull was within eight and twenty yards of him.
1987 R. P. Mackal Living Dinosaur? 240 Bitter fights between elephants and rhinoceros bulls have been observed in the Kruger National Park.
rhinoceros calf n.
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1793 C. R. Hopson tr. C. P. Thunberg Trav. I. 247 Such horns as were taken from a young rhinoceros calf..were said to be the best.
1875 W. H. Drummond Large Game & Nat. Hist. S. & S.-E. Afr. ii. 117 On one occasion I happened to witness..the capture of a young rhinoceros calf.
1939 Jrnl. Mammalogy 20 15 I have sometimes come across their tracks but only once have been very close to a rhinoceros calf.
1990 Malayan Nature Jrnl. 44 1 The average daily weight gain of the rhinoceros calf was 0.86 kg for the first 12 months.
rhinoceros cow n.
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1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting iv. 105 An old rhinoceros cow.
1910 Scribner's Mag. June 669/1 On an open plain we saw a rhinoceros cow trotting off with her calf.
1995 Amer. Jrnl. Compar. Law 43 586 The plaintiff alleged that a photographer acted recklessly and provoked a rhinoceros cow to charge while defending her calf.
rhinoceros hunt n.
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1785 G. Forster tr. A. Sparrman Voy. Cape Good Hope II. p. x Journey back to the Cape. Rhinoceros hunt. Dangerous ride in the dark.
1849 Mammalia III. 33 His animated account of a rhinoceros-hunt.
1928 V. G. Childe Most Anc. East (1929) ii. 38 In rock-shelters in the Khaimur range near Mirzapur is painted a scene representing a rhinoceros hunt.
2000 Wichita (Kansas) Eagle (Nexis) 6 Feb. 4 d On his way home from a staged rhinoceros hunt at a private game preserve.
rhinoceros spoor n. chiefly South African
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1855 W. C. Holden Hist. Natal 420 All at once we fell in with a fresh rhinoceros spoor.
1940 O. Johnson I Married Adventure xviii. 229 Toward the bottom of the bowl Jerramani pointed out some rhinoceros spoor and said the big twohorned animals had been there within the last twenty-four hours.
2004 S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 59 8 There are no engravings of rhinoceros spoor at these sites.
b. Similative.
rhinoceros-black adj. rare
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1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 82 Rhinoceros-black (a flowing sea!).
C2. † rhinoceros auk n. Obsolete rare = rhinoceros auklet n.† rhinoceros build n. Obsolete rare a physical appearance resembling that of a rhinoceros; cf. sense 1b.† rhinoceros hump n. Obsolete the flesh from the hump on the back of a rhinoceros, used as meat.† rhinoceros leg n. Medicine Obsolete rare elephantiasis of the leg.† rhinoceros nose n. [after classical Latin nasus rhinocerotis (Martial 1. 3. 6)] Obsolete a nose turned up as a display of sneering contempt; cf. to play the rhinoceros at Phrases, rhinocerical adj. 2b.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Alcidae (auks) > [noun] > cerorhinca monocerata (rhinoceros auklet)
rhinoceros auk1884
unicorn auk1884
rhinoceros auklet1886
1884 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 805 Ceratorhina... Rhinoceros auks. Related to Lunda and Fratercula.
rhinoceros auklet n. a mainly blackish-brown auk, Cerorhinca monocerata, of northern Pacific coasts, having a whitish hornlike knob at the base of the large orange-brown bill.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Alcidae (auks) > [noun] > cerorhinca monocerata (rhinoceros auklet)
rhinoceros auk1884
unicorn auk1884
rhinoceros auklet1886
1886 Auk 3 88 Cerorhincha monocerata... Rhinoceros auklet.
1933 Sci. Monthly Oct. 374/2 These little fellows have given excellent exhibitions in chasing small fish about the pier, but the best I ever saw was given by a Rhinoceros auklet at the end of the pier one morning.
2004 Wildlife Soc. Bull. 32 181/2 The presence of a floor in nest boxes has proven useful in the case of another burrowing species, the rhinoceros auklet.
rhinoceros beetle n. any of various very large scarab beetles constituting the subfamily Dynastinae, the males of which have a curved horn extending from the head and typically one or more from the thorax; esp. the widespread Oryctes nasicornis of temperate Eurasia.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > member of (horned beetle)
dora1450
rhinoceros1658
rhinoceros beetle1681
phyllophagan1842
rhino beetle1951
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. §vii. ii. 162 The Rhinoceros Beetle..hath only one Horn upon the Nose standing almost upright.
1758 T. Flloyd & J. Hill tr. J. Swammerdam Bk. Nature 196/1 The Rhinoceros Beetle, whose lungs consist of numberless little bladders.
1892 Bull. Misc. Information (Royal Gardens, Kew) No. 64. 88 The young cocoa-nut palm..is peculiarly liable to the attack of a large rhinoceros beetle..Oryctes insularis.
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses xv. 355 A few species of rhinoceros beetles are found in the South and West.
1996 New Scientist 10 Feb. 17/1 Gram for gram, rhinoceros beetles are thought to be the world's strongest animals.
rhinoceros bird n. †(a) = rhinoceros hornbill n. (obsolete); (b) chiefly South African an oxpecker (genus Buphagus).
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Coraciiformes (kingfisher, etc.) > [noun] > family Bucerotidae (hornbill) > buceros rhinoceros
rhinocerot1613
rhinoceros1614
rhinocerot bird1678
rhinoceros birda1684
rhinoceros hornbill1781
unicorn hornbill1811
rhino bird1905
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > [noun] > family Sturnidae > genus Buphagus (ox-pecker)
rhinoceros bird1822
beefeater1836
oxpecker1837
tick-bird1850
buffalo-bird1857
ox-biter1885
tick-eater1903
cow-picker1915
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. viii. 127 Rhinocerot Bird.]
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1651 (1955) III. 33 The head of the Rynoceros bird, which was indeede very extravagant.
1708 E. Hatton New View London II. 670/1 The Head of the Horned Crow or Rhinoceros Bird; and the Beak which is a precious Antidote against all manner of Poison.
1822 J. Campbell Trav. S. Afr.: Narr. 2nd Journey I. xxiv. 282 There is a brown bird, about the size of a thrush, called the rhinoceros' bird, from its perching upon those animals and picking off the bush-lice which fix on him.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xvi. 204 Six times we crawled to within thirty or forty feet of them in the bush, attracted at first by the loud zaa-zaa of the rhinoceros birds.
1999 E. Ambros et al. Kenya (ed. 3) 125/1 Many lizards, mongooses, rhinoceros birds and glossy starlings feel just as much at home on the grounds of the lodge as do the tourists.
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1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. v. 35 He was of an overlapping rhinoceros build, with folds in his cheeks, and his forehead,..and his lips.
rhinoceros bush n. [after South African Dutch rhinosterbosch (see renosterbos n.)] a South African shrub, Elytropappus rhinocerotis, said to be the food of the rhinoceros; = renosterbos n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > African
Aspalathus1601
othonne1601
honey flower1712
amber tree1719
Melianthus1731
rhinoceros bush1731
Hottentot cherry1740
sparmannia1801
renosterbos1822
ratsbane1846
black parsley1861
tail-grape1884
milk-tree1885
poison-bush1885
rooibos1893
Natal bottlebrush1907
moonflower1913
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope II. 104 The Delight of his [sc. the rhinoceros's] Tooth is a Shrub, not much unlike the Juniper... The Cape-Europeans call it the Rhinoceros-Bush.
1839 W. C. Harris Wild Sports S. Afr. 30 Barely sufficient quantity of fuel, from a shrub called the rhinoceros bush, could be obtained.
1940 Jrnl. Royal Afr. Soc. 39 161 In 1775 the Swedish scientist, Dr. Sparrman, was quite convinced that the increase in rhinoceros bush was due to overgrazing the pastures by the colonists.
1998 Univ. Oxf. Bot. Garden News Autumn 7/2 The rhinoceros bush..is characteristic of the Karoo where it ousts more desirable fodder plants for the mixed flocks of goats and sheep.
rhinoceros chameleon n. any of several horned chameleons of the genera Furcifer and Chamaeleo; spec. F. rhinoceratus of Madagascar, the male of which has a prominent forward-projecting horn on the nose.
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1845 Catal. Lizards Brit. Mus. 267 The Rhinoceros Chameleon. Chameleo rhinoceratus.
1914 J. A. Loring Afr. Adventure Stories xiii. 180 Dangerous as the rhinoceros chameleon looks, it is perfectly harmless.
2000 P. Klappert Chokecherries 175 Large heads with various knobs or horns—three horns in the case of Chamaeleo jacksoni, sometimes called ‘the rhinoceros chameleon’.
rhinoceros cup n. a cup made from the hollowed-out horn of a rhinoceros, esp. one used for ceremonial purposes.
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the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > horn
hornc1000
bugle horna1387
ox-horna1398
rhinoceros cup1649
goblet1688
goglet1688
1649 Inventory in Archæol. (1806) 15 284 A rinoceras cupp graven with figures.
1835 Jrnl. Royal Asiatic Soc. 2 281 The She-king, in denouncing the crimes of one of the ancient ministers, says, ‘Give him (the transgressor) a rhinoceros' cup!’
1939 Burlington Mag. Aug. 70/1 A carved Rhinoceros cup in the possession of Mme. Waniek (Paris) bears the date A.D. 1508.
1999 A. J. Gschwend in G. Bertini & A. J. Gschwend Il ‘Guardaroba’ di una Principessa del Rinascimento 51/2 The two ivory folding fans from Ceylon..and a rhinoceros cup from Goa with Portuguese mounts, were of the best quality.
rhinoceros hide n. (a) the tanned skin of a rhinoceros, used as a material; (b) figurative insusceptibility to persuasion or argument; insensitivity to criticism; a ‘thick skin’.
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1801 W. Somerville Jrnl. 7 Nov. in Narr. Journeys Eastern Cape Frontier (1979) iii. 95 Ornaments of copper and iron rings round his wrists, also bracelets of Rhinoceros hide.
1836 Caledonian Mercury 12 Dec. Even this positive testimony could not pierce the rhinoceros hide of bigotry.
1863 W. Phillips Speeches iii. 48 The rhinoceros hide of a Webster.
1876 G. B. Goode Classif. Coll. Illustr. Animal Resources U.S. 84 Rhinoceros-hide used for shields, targets, whips.
1937 H. Sauer Ex Afr. 193 Buffalo, giraffe, hippo, or rhinoceros hide..is trimmed to about the thickness of a lady's finger and made very pliable and supple by a process of ‘braying’ or constant rubbing by a greasy hand.
1974 T. P. Whitney tr. A. Solzhenitsyn Gulag Archipel. I. i. x. 400 Could it be that Stalin felt this, too, through his rhinoceros hide?
1991 T. Hayden Killing Frost (BNC) 218 It was a South African sjambok, a heavy whip nine feet long, the lash not of leather but of rhinoceros hide.
rhinoceros hornbill n. a large hornbill of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia, Buceros rhinoceros, having black and white plumage and a large upturned casque.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Coraciiformes (kingfisher, etc.) > [noun] > family Bucerotidae (hornbill) > buceros rhinoceros
rhinocerot1613
rhinoceros1614
rhinocerot bird1678
rhinoceros birda1684
rhinoceros hornbill1781
unicorn hornbill1811
rhino bird1905
1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 341 Rhinoceros Hornbill is full four feet in length, and is as big as a middle-sized Turkey.
1888 Murie in J. S. Kingsley Riverside Nat. Hist. IV. 404 Such a great, unwieldly, horned bird as the rhinoceros hornbill.
1940 C. Wells North of Singapore vii. 152 The Malay jungle is full of the most spectacular birds in the world, including..the giant Rhinoceros Hornbill, which has the habit of walling its mate into a hollow tree at nesting time.
2004 Sunday Times Trav. Feb.–Mar. 161/1 Some 350 species can be seen, from crested firebacks and rhinoceros hornbills to prized forest-floor gems such as the striped wren-babbler.
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1846 H. H. Methuen Life in Wilderness 246 The rhinoceros-hump, when well roasted, or baked in an ant-hill scooped out like an oven, is very savoury.
1861 C. J. Andersson Okavango River 130 Rhinoceros hump was..a frequent and favourite dish of mine.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 190 I breakfasted this morning on rhinoceros hump.
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1885 A. R. Robinson Man. Dermatol. 435 Hence the well-merited name of rhinoceros leg and elephantiasis.
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the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [noun] > action of expressing contempt > by facial expression > instance of
rhinoceros nose1555
frump1590
fleera1616
rhinocerot's nose1616
sneer1706
curl of the lip1814
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde sig. AAAAavv I haue not..byn very curious To auoyde the scornes of Rhinoceros nose.
1651 R. Whitehall Τέχνηπολιμογαμία sig. A4v Then feare we not those With Rhinoceros Nose, Nor the venemous tooth to bite us.
Rhinoceros Party n. Canadian Politics a spoof political party, founded in Montreal in 1963, which fielded candidates with absurd manifesto pledges, and was effectively dissolved by an election reform law in 1993.
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1964 Winnipeg Free Press 28 Jan. 12/5 The Gazette quotes an unidentified Rhinoceros party supporter as saying the party was so named because ‘the rhinoceros is a thick-skinned, clumsy, stupid animal which loves to wallow in the mire but can move fast when it senses danger. In other words, it's the perfect symbol of the Quebec MP in Ottawa.’
1980 Christian Sci. Monitor 24 Jan. 7/3 If you're prone to uncontrollable yawning at the merest mention of Canada's imminent election.., you probably haven't heard of the Monty Pythons of Canadian politics—the Rhinoceros Party.
2004 National Post (Canada) 17 May a10/2 My fondest hope would be the return of the Rhinoceros Party.
rhinoceros puff-adder n. rare = rhinoceros viper n.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > genus Bitis > bitis cornuta (nasicornus (horned adder))
rhinoceros puff-adder1870
horned adder1878
rhinoceros viper1880
1870 P. Gillmore tr. L. Figuier Reptiles & Birds ii. 83 The Rhinoceros Puff Adder (Clotho nasicornis of Guinea) has the scales over the nostrils of the male produced into a long re-curved spine.
1908 H. H. Johnston G. Grenfell & Congo II. xxxiv. 950 Only three kinds are poisonous—the rhinoceros puff-adder (Bitis nasicornis), the Causus rhombeatus, and the tree cobra.
rhinoceros-run n. rare a track or pathway habitually used by a rhinoceros.
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1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 568/2 Elephant-tracks and rhinoceros-runs pierced the jungle here and there.
rhinoceros skin n. the skin of a rhinoceros, originally esp. when tanned and used as a material.
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1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. §ii. ii. 30 A piece of a great Rhinoceros-Skin, tann'd.
1712 H. Curzon Universal Libr. I. 443 A piece of Rhinoceros Skin, hard as Iron, and half an Inch thick.
1812 F. Shoberl tr. F. A. de Chateaubriand Trav. Greece, Palestine, Egypt, & Barbary (ed. 2) I. 102 They were belabouring the horses and the postilion with whips of rhinoceros skin.
1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 11 Apr. 463 ‘The women here,’ he writes from Edinburgh..display ‘boots of rhinoceros-skin, with feet of the same.’
1908 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 8 990 Other drugs in common use are cockroaches, fossils, rhinoceros skin, [etc.].
1992 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 337 419 Rhinoceros skin..contains a dense and highly ordered three-dimensional array of relatively straight and highly crosslinked collagen fibres.
rhinoceros viper n. a large venomous snake of forests in West and central Africa, Bitis nasicornis, having bold markings and a pair of hornlike scales on the snout; also called river jack.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > genus Bitis > bitis cornuta (nasicornus (horned adder))
rhinoceros puff-adder1870
horned adder1878
rhinoceros viper1880
1880 B. Solymos Desert Life 138 This pin is carved in imitation of the cobra held sacred by the Egyptians, and is covered with the scaly skin of a cobra or of a rhinoceros viper.
1931 Sci. News Let. 28 Feb. 138/2 There are three extremely poisonous African snakes: the sand viper, the Gaboon viper and the rhinoceros viper.
2001 Independent 10 May i. 10/8 Other snakes seized included venomous Rhinoceros and Eyelash vipers, rattlesnakes and emerald tree pythons.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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