vi·per

(vī′pər)

1. Any of various venomous snakes of the family Viperidae, having a thick heavy body and a single pair of long hollow fangs, especially the Eurasian and African species of the subfamily Viperinae, which lack the sensory pits of the pit vipers.

2. Any of several harmless snakes sometimes believed to be venomous.

3. A person regarded as malicious or treacherous.

[Middle English vipere, from Old French, from Latin vīpera, snake, contraction of *vīvipera : vīvus, alive; see g^wei- in Indo-European roots + parere, to give birth; see perə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

viper

(ˈvaɪpə)

1. (Animals) any venomous Old World snake of the family Viperidae, esp any of the genus Vipera (the adder and related forms), having hollow fangs in the upper jaw that are used to inject venom

2. (Animals) any of various other snakes, such as the horned viper

3. (Animals) See pit viper

4. a malicious or treacherous person

[C16: from Latin vīpera, perhaps from vīvus living + parere to bear, referring to a tradition that the viper was viviparous]

ˈviper-ˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vi•per

(ˈvaɪ pər)

n.

1. any venomous snake of the cosmopolitan family Viperidae, characterized by a pair of hollow fangs that can be erected for biting and injecting venom: includes the adders, puff adders, and pit vipers.

2. any of various other venomous or supposedly venomous snakes.

3. a malignant, spiteful, or treacherous person.

[1520–30; < Latin vīpera, haplological variant of *vīvipera, n. use of feminine of *vīviper, later (as re-formation) vīviparus viviparous]

vi′per•ish, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

viper - venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw

ophidian, serpent, snake - limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous

family Viperidae, Viperidae - Old World vipers

common viper, Vipera berus, adder - small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia

asp, asp viper, Vipera aspis - of southern Europe; similar to but smaller than the adder

Bitis arietans, puff adder - large African viper that inflates its body when alarmed

Bitis gabonica, gaboon viper - large heavy-bodied brilliantly marked and extremely venomous west African viper

cerastes, Cerastes cornutus, horned asp, horned viper, sand viper - highly venomous viper of northern Africa and southwestern Asia having a horny spine above each eye

pit viper - New World vipers with hollow fangs and a heat-sensitive pit on each side of the head

Translations

أفْعى

змия

zmije

hugorm

Viper

viperovipuro

víbora

kyykyykäärme

vipère couleuvre

vipera

naîra/snákur

vipera aspide

vipera

angis

odze

năpârcă

vretenica

gad

huggorm

engerek yılanı

毒蛇蝰蛇阴险恶毒的人

viper

[ˈvaɪpəʳ] N (lit, fig) → víbora f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

viper

[ˈvaɪpə^r] n → vipère fVIP lounge n → salon m d'accueil pour VIP

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

viper

n (Zool) → Viper f; (fig) → Schlange f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

viper

[ˈvaɪpəʳ] n (Zool) (also) (fig) → vipera

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

viper

(ˈvaipə) noun

an adder.

vi·per

n. víbora.

viper

n víbora

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

While thus looking upwards, he unknowingly trod upon a Viper asleep just before his feet.

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"Do you recall that time you stepped upon the thing you call viper in your world?" she asked.

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'There, sir,' said Pott, retreating from the stove, 'and that's the way I would serve the viper who produces it, if I were not, fortunately for him, restrained by the laws of my country.'

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He was constantly wounded, and yet his good- nature was such that he could not bear malice: the viper might sting him, but he never learned by experience, and had no sooner recovered from his pain than he tenderly placed it once more in his bosom.

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Give my love to your aunt, George dear, and implore her not to curse the viper that has crossed your path and blighted your existence.

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I believe he would put poison in your food and mine - the viper!"

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Every time that that young viper passes in front of my cell, she sets my blood in a ferment."

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Cuvier, in opposition to some other naturalists, makes this a sub-genus of the rattlesnake, and intermediate between it and the viper. In confirmation of this opinion, I observed a fact, which appears to me very curious and instructive, as showing how every character, even though it may be in some degree independent of structure, has a tendency to vary by slow degrees.

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Moreover, you must remember that the beauty I possess was no choice of mine, for, be it what it may, Heaven of its bounty gave it me without my asking or choosing it; and as the viper, though it kills with it, does not deserve to be blamed for the poison it carries, as it is a gift of nature, neither do I deserve reproach for being beautiful; for beauty in a modest woman is like fire at a distance or a sharp sword; the one does not burn, the other does not cut, those who do not come too near.

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"And now," said Athos, resuming his cloak and putting on his hat, "now that I have drawn your teeth, viper, bite if you can."

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"Very well; if ever you meet him again, wherever it may be, whether on the high road or in the street or in a church, anywhere that he or you may be, put your foot on his neck and crush him without pity, without mercy, as you would crush a viper or a scorpion!

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"You are a giant," said the marquise, "whom a viper is trying to bite in the heel."

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