Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several venomous Old World snakes of the family Viperidae, having a single pair of long, hollow fangs and a thick, heavy body. Also called adder2.
- n. A pit viper.
- n. A venomous or supposedly venomous snake.
- n. A person regarded as malicious or treacherous.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A venomous snake of the family Viperidæ: originally and especially applied to the only serpent of this kind occurring in the greater part of Europe, Vipera communis Or Pelias beruts. This is the only poisonous reptile which is found in Great Britain, and there it is neither very common nor very dangerous. There are several genera and many species, of vipers properly so called, all Old World, chiefly of warm countries, all poisonous, and most of them very dangerous if not fatal; they are known indifferently as vipers, asps, or adders. See
Viperidæ , and cuts underadder , Cerastes, and daboya. - n. Any venomous serpent except a rattlesnake; a viperine; a cobriform and not crotali form serpent, as a cobra, asp, or adder; also, loosely, any serpent that is venomous, or supposed to be so; a dangerous, repulsive, or ugly snake. In the United States the name is commonly but erroneously applied to various spotted snakes, especially to some supposed to be venomous, but in fact innocuous: as, the water-viper, Ancistrodon piscivorus, the water-moccasin, poisonous; the blowing-viper and black viper, Heterodon platyrhinos and H. niger, both harmless, though of formidable and repulsive aspect. See cuts under asp, cobra-de-capello, copperhead, moccasin, andpit-viper.
- n. In heraldry, a serpent used as a bearing, some writers avoid the word serpent and use viper instead, there being no difference in the representations.
- n. One who or that which is mischievous or malignant.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of Old World venomous snakes belonging to Vipera, Clotho, Daboia, and other genera of the family
Viperidæ . - n. A dangerous, treacherous, or malignant person.
- n. Loosely, any venomous or presumed venomous snake.
WordNet 3.0
- n. venomous Old World snakes characterized by hollow venom-conducting fangs in the upper jaw
Etymologies
- From Latin vīpera. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English vipere, from Old French, from Latin vīpera, snake, contraction of *vīvipera : vīvus, alive; see gwei- in Indo-European roots + parere, to give birth; see perə-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Take the type 45 for example the sea viper is a navalised version of the French Astor which is in service.”
Cheeseburger Gothic » Anyone been following the build up to next falklands war?
“The flesh of the viper is also eaten roasted, as a remedy against eruptions of the skin.”
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country
“The word viper is interesting; coming directly from the Romans, who wrote it _vipera_.”
“Though the viper is viviparous (from which "vi-per" is derived), yet during gestation, the young are included in eggs, which break at the birth [Bochart]; however, metaphors often combine things without representing everything to the life.”
“But I'm sure with your cooking skills, Book Maven...ah, the viper might be a problem - quorn viper?”
“MESERVE: In eight of the nation's largest cities, the Transportation Security Administration is deploying its so-called viper teams, made up of canine explosive detection units, air marshals and behavioral observation specialists.”
“According to "The Washington Post," the so-called viper teams will include undercover marshals, but there will also be some uniformed officers.”
“JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the so-called viper teams are a new combination of existing Transportation Security Administration assets: federal air marshals, explosive detection, K-9 teams and security officers.”
“There is one snake called the bamboo viper, that is particularly dangerous.”
Press Briefing On Joint Task Force Full Accounting Excavation
“A hair of the dog that bites you" is the cure for hydrophobia, the fat of the viper was the remedy for its bite, and”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘viper’.
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®emovies
Movies or TV shows where the titles are also common words, generally one-word titles.
lost, alien, bug, elephant, siege, gladiator, flock, captivity, piano, roots, freaks, moonstruck and 269 more...
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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GUG
GUG
viper, iceberg, dalai lama, friendship, brooch, western, avalanche, swine, mission, bubble, amethyst, story and 1 more...
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Nom de Guerre Finder
You've taken all the other quizzes--you've already used the name of your first pet and you're tired of having to use the name of the first street where you lived. Now it's time to find your excitin...
odyssey, dawn, desert, storm, noble, eagle, shield, freedom, enduring, swift, sharp, edge and 50 more...
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animals (2 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 2 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious like 'dragon') are we...
baboon, rabbit, raptor, dragon, camel, hornet, llama, cobra, cheetah, penguin, puppy, dolphin and 87 more...
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Snakes
python, adder, snake, asp, cobra, bull snake, copperhead, sea snake, viper, boa, cottonmouth, rattlesnake and 15 more...
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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cindywrites's Words
chiaroscuro, mollycoddle, feckless, evocative, provocative, invocation, beckon, allay, becalm, console, lull, soothe and 479 more...
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Lively Words
quick, quicksilver, cwic, quitch grass, cwice, vivify, viviparous, viper, weever, wyvern, viand, victual and 148 more...
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All things Snake-Like
Any words or phrases having to do with snakes.
hiss, slither, serpent, coil, fangs, snake, cobra, viper, devil, strike
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kat's words
ecumenical, cacophony, clatter, marimba, bamboo, saffron, slice, mercurial, pomegranate, cranky, slipshod, scritch and 511 more...
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old faves
ones I already liked
vacuole, organelle, debauchle, voluptuous, spry, cattywampus, obscure, occlude, occult, celtic, voracious, ardently and 133 more...
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Time for a new list!
abrupt, erupt, rupture, sync, appropinquity, heterochromia, homochromatic, monochromatic, willy nilly, nitty gritty, kowtow, wonton and 455 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Favorite Five-Letter Words
Just what it sounds like. My favorites. Five letters.
ennui, barfy, samba, schwa, beefy, chunk, queef, spasm, skulk, bowel, elbow, fruit and 235 more...
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thegirlnextfloor's list
autumnal, avalanche, silhouette, antique, abysmal, scorch, sonic, surge, symmetry, whisper, penchant, dissipate and 349 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for viper.

john A prototype biplane fighter of the early 1920s. More on Wikipedia. Dec 29, 2008
chained_bear "One night last year in the king crab season, a 100-foot rogue wave with a 30-foot whitewater 'viper' slammed into Time Bandit. That frightened me beyond the measure of I-thought-we-were-done-for."
—Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand with Malcolm MacPherson, Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs, 153
see also growler. Jun 22, 2008