serpentine

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Of or resembling a serpent, as in form or movement; sinuous.
2. adj. Subtly sly and tempting.
3. n. Any of a group of greenish, brownish, or spotted minerals, Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄, used as a source of magnesium and asbestos, and in architecture as a decorative stone.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Of or pertaining to or resembling a serpent.
2. Especially.
3. Having or resembling the qualities or instincts ascribed to serpents; subtle; cunning; treacherous or dangerous.
4. Moving like a serpent; winding about; writhing; wriggling; meandering; coiling; crooked; bent; tortuous; sinuous; zigzag; anfractuous; specifically, in the manège, lolling out and moving over the bit, as a horse's tongue.
5. Beginning and ending with the same word, as a line of poetry, as if returning upon itself. See serpentine verse.
6. n. In French usage, part of the lock of an early form of harquebus; a match-holder, resembling a pair of nippers, which could be brought down upon the powder in the pan.
7. n. A cannon in use in the sixteenth century. The serpentine proper is described as having a bore of 1½ inches, and the cannon serpentine as having a bore of 7 inches and a shot of 53½ pounds. Compare organ-gun.
8. n. A kind of still; a serpentary.
9. n. A hydrous silicate of magnesium, occurring massive, sometimes fine, granular, and compact, again finely fibrous, less often slaty. It is usually green in color, but of many different shades, also red, brown, or gray, sometimes with spots resembling a serpent's skin. There are numerous varieties, differing in structure and color. The most important of these are—precious or noble serpentine, under which term are comprised the more or less translucent serpentines, having a rich oil-green color; foliated varieties, including marmolite and antigorite; fibrous varieties, as chrysotile (sometimes called serpentine asbestos) and metaxite. Other minerals more or less closely allied to or identical with serpentine are picrolite, williamsite, bowenite, retinalite, baltimorite, vorhauserite, hydrophite, jenkinsite, villarsite, etc. Serpentine occurs widely distributed and in abundance, forming rock-masses, many of which were formerly regarded as being of eruptive origin, but which are now generally conceded to have been formed by the metamorphism of various rocks and minerals; indeed, it has not been proved that serpentine has ever been formed in any other way than this. The peridotites appear to have been peculiarly liable to this kind of alteration, or serpentinization, as it is called. Massive serpentine has been extensively used for both interior and exterior architectural and decorative purposes, but in only a few localities is a material quarried which stands outdoor exposure without soon losing its polish, and eventually becoming disintegrated. The serpentinous rock commonly called verd-antique, and known to lithologists as ophicalcite, is a very beautiful decorative material, and has been extensively employed for ornament in various parts of the world. See verd-antique.
10. To wind like a serpent; move sinuously like a snake; meander; wriggle.
11. n. In mathematics: The surface generated by a sphere whose center travels along a helix.
12. n. A special curve of the third order.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Sinuous; curving in alternate directions.
2. adj. Having the shape or form of snake.
3. adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes.
4. adj. Of, or having attributes associated with, the mythological serpent, such as craftiness or deceitfulness.
5. n. Any of several plants believed to cure snakebites.
6. n. An early form of cannon.
7. n. A coiled distillation tube.
8. v. archaic To serpentize; to turn or bend; to meander.
9. adj. geology, botany Of or characteristic of serpentine rocks or the plants that grow there.
10. n. mineralogy Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of a magnesium and iron silicates.
11. n. mineralogy Any of many minerals that have the same layered crystal structure.
12. n. geology An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Resembling a serpent; having the shape or qualities of a serpent; subtle; winding or turning one way and the other, like a moving serpent; anfractuous; meandering; sinuous; zigzag.
2. n. (Min.) A mineral or rock consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of magnesia. It is usually of an obscure green color, often with a spotted or mottled appearance resembling a serpent's skin. Precious, or noble, serpentine is translucent and of a rich oil-green color.
3. n. (Ordnance) A kind of ancient cannon.
4. v. rare To serpentize.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. resembling a serpent in form