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Synonyms for adder


Grammar : Noun
Spell : ad-er
Phonetic Transcription : ˈæd ər



Définition of adder

Origin :
  • Old English næddre "a snake, serpent, viper," from West Germanic *nædro "a snake" (cf. Old Norse naðra, Middle Dutch nadre, Old High German natra, German Natter, Gothic nadrs), from PIE root *netr- (cf. Latin natrix "water snake," probably by folk-association with nare "to swim;" Old Irish nathir, Welsh neidr "adder").
  • The modern form represents a faulty separation 14c.-16c. into an adder, for which see also apron, auger, nickname, humble pie, umpire. Nedder is still a northern English dialect form. Folklore connection with deafness is via Psalm lviii:1-5. The adder is said to stop up its ears to avoid hearing the snake charmer called in to drive it away. Adderbolt (late 15c.) was a former name for "dragonfly."
  • As in viper : noun snake
Example sentences :
  • It is more venemous than the adder, it is more destructive than hebenon or madragora.
  • Extract from : « Imogen » by William Godwin
  • Afterwards he seized hold of an adder, and was not bitten by it.
  • Extract from : « Bunyan » by James Anthony Froude
  • Monsey jumped, with a scream, out of his seat as though stung by an adder.
  • Extract from : « The Shadow of a Crime » by Hall Caine
  • Burke started, as if the tones of his companion's voice had stung him like an adder.
  • Extract from : « Jack Hinton » by Charles James Lever
  • The good Book says, 'it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder!'
  • Extract from : « Uncle Tom's Cabin » by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Supporters,—not captives nor victims; the Cockatrice and Adder.
  • Extract from : « Our Fathers Have Told Us » by John Ruskin
  • The adder (nieder or nether snake) saying that he is mud, and will be mud.
  • Extract from : « Our Fathers Have Told Us » by John Ruskin
  • Saxham started as though an adder had flashed its fangs through his boot.
  • Extract from : « The Dop Doctor » by Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
  • And who was like to think, till he did see, what an adder the King nursed in his bosom?
  • Extract from : « In Convent Walls » by Emily Sarah Holt
  • I will show you the pit of your own heart, Padahoon, and the adder that bites at the root of it.
  • Extract from : « The Arrow-Maker » by Mary Austin

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019