pit viper
noun
: any of various mostly New World vipers (subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae) with a sensory pit on each side of the head and hollow perforated retractable fangs
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Clamp and Andrews said your response should be the same no matter which type of pit viper bites you. 
Forrest Brown, CNN, 24 July 2022 Captopril, the first, was created in the 1970s from the venom of a Brazilian jararaca pit viper to treat high blood pressure. New York Times, 3 May 2022 The owner also explained that the city removed two other snakes from his residence, including a pit viper. Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE.com, 5 Aug. 2021 The team analyzed the genome of the Taiwan habu (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus) brown pit viper to see which genes are associated with the venom system. Chris Smith, BGR, 5 Apr. 2021 But a paper published in 2013 in the Journal of Comparative Pathology found that of 4,087 pit viper hatchlings studied, three hatched with bicephaly, and of 324 rattlesnake hatchlings, none had bicephaly. Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020 Snake-lovers celebrated the inclusion of the lime-green Mangshan pit viper. The Economist, 27 Feb. 2021 The expedition team also found the mountain fer-de-lance (Bothrops monsignifer), a new species of venomous pit viper, which uses heat-sensing pits on its head to detect prey, and the Bolivian flag snake (Eutrachelophis sp. Eric Niiler, Wired, 14 Dec. 2020 The venom of the Brazilian pit viper, which causes a sudden drop in blood pressure in its prey. Samantha Bresnahan, CNN, 9 Nov. 2020 See More
Forrest Brown, CNN, 24 July 2022 Captopril, the first, was created in the 1970s from the venom of a Brazilian jararaca pit viper to treat high blood pressure. New York Times, 3 May 2022 The owner also explained that the city removed two other snakes from his residence, including a pit viper. Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE.com, 5 Aug. 2021 The team analyzed the genome of the Taiwan habu (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus) brown pit viper to see which genes are associated with the venom system. Chris Smith, BGR, 5 Apr. 2021 But a paper published in 2013 in the Journal of Comparative Pathology found that of 4,087 pit viper hatchlings studied, three hatched with bicephaly, and of 324 rattlesnake hatchlings, none had bicephaly. Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Oct. 2020 Snake-lovers celebrated the inclusion of the lime-green Mangshan pit viper. The Economist, 27 Feb. 2021 The expedition team also found the mountain fer-de-lance (Bothrops monsignifer), a new species of venomous pit viper, which uses heat-sensing pits on its head to detect prey, and the Bolivian flag snake (Eutrachelophis sp. Eric Niiler, Wired, 14 Dec. 2020 The venom of the Brazilian pit viper, which causes a sudden drop in blood pressure in its prey. Samantha Bresnahan, CNN, 9 Nov. 2020 See More Word History
First Known Use
1874, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
pit viper
noun
: any of various mostly New World highly specialized venomous snakes (as the rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin, and fer-de-lance) that belong to a subfamily (Crotalinae) of the family Viperidae, that have a small depression on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril, and that have hollow perforated fangs usually folded back in the upper part of the mouth but erected in striking
pit viper
noun
as in water snake
Synonyms & Similar Words
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- water snake
- horned viper
- bull snake
- milk snake
- green snake
- garter snake
- rat snake
- hognose snake
- gopher snake
- indigo snake
- chicken snake
- worm snake
- blue racer
- pine snake
- coral snake
- sea snake
- water moccasin
- black racer
- puff adder
- king snake
- sea serpent
- king cobra
- cottonmouth moccasin
- diamondback rattlesnake
- rattlesnake
- cobra
- python
- copperhead
- racer
- moccasin
- taipan
- asp
- boa
- anaconda
- mamba
- constrictor
- bushmaster
- adder
- krait
- fer-de-lance
- viper
- blacksnake
- sidewinder
- snake
- serpent