snake

Less common meanings

5. 5
   clear a drainverbtransitive

   To clear a pipe or drain by running a flexible plumbing tool through it.

   He snaked the toilet to remove the stubborn clog.

   We need to snake the main sewer line this weekend.

   UsageTakes the pipe or fixture as its object: snake the drain, snake the toilet.

   Similarunclog, unblock, clear

6. 6
   penisnounslangcountable

   A slang term for the penis, from the longer expression "trouser snake."

   The locker-room banter inevitably circled back to someone's snake.

   He bragged about his snake until the whole table groaned.

   UsageThe phrase trouser snake makes the sexual meaning clearer than snake alone.

   Note

   Often taken as short for trouser snake, and like the longer phrase it is jokey rather than clinical. Because the animal meaning is so strong, the slang sense leans on context to be understood. Without a nudge, a listener simply hears the reptile.

7. 7
   jelly sweetnounAustraliaUKcountable

   A flavored jelly sweet molded into the shape of a snake.

   She bit the head off a strawberry snake before sharing the rest.

   The corner shop sold fizzy snakes by the quarter from a big jar.

   UsageNo need to add sweet or candy: a bag of snakes, a red snake.

   Note

   Sweet-shop English in Britain and Australia, where snakes are long, flavored jelly sweets of the kind called jubes. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • In Britain and Australia, snakes are flavored jelly sweets, or jubes, shaped like snakes. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   tell onverbdialectalMulticultural London Englishtransitive or intransitive

   To betray someone by informing on them, especially to authorities, frequently used with 'out.'

   Nobody on the estate would speak to him once they found out he'd snaked his mates out to the police.

   If you snake out your own crew, don't expect anyone in the neighborhood to trust you again.

   UsageOften with out and the person betrayed: snake someone out.

   Similarrat, snitch, squeal, grass, inform

   Note

   The verb that goes with the traitor or informer noun, heard mainly in African American speech and Multicultural London English, often with out: someone who snakes informs on others.

9. 9
   drag outverbcolloquialUStransitive

   To drag or haul something out with effort, as one would pull a snake from its hole; often used with "out."

   Workers snake the logs out of the woods using horses and chains.

   It took two horses and most of the afternoon to snake the fallen oak out of the creek bed.

   Similardrag, haul, pull

   Note

   American and informal, built on the picture of pulling a snake from its hole. An 1835 letter by the abolitionist George Thompson, written as he left America, pictures a wife and children forced to flee lest they be snaked out by men in civic authority. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The hauling sense uses the image of pulling a snake from its hole. upload.wikimedia.org
10. 10
    stealverbslangAustraliatransitive

    To steal something slyly, often quickly and without being noticed.

    Like a pickpocket slipping a wallet away while you're distracted.

    She snaked his idea and presented it as her own in the meeting.

    Quit trying to snake my seat the moment I stand up.

    UsageUsed for ideas as well as physical things: Someone snaked my idea.

    Similarswipe, steal, pinch, nab, nick

    Note

    Australian slang, and usually indignant. It is the verb of someone who has just been robbed by stealth, as in "He snaked my DVD!" The thing taken need not be physical. A poster called Hyena, finding in 2001 that his idea was already patented, cries "Snaked again!" The slyness links it to the treacherous person. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • A poster named Hyena used “Snaked again!” in 2001 while discussing an idea that someone had already patented. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    burning ash toynounabbreviationellipsis

    Short for black snake: a small firework pellet that, when lit, pushes out a long, coiling column of ash.

    He touched a match to the snake and it swelled into a coiling ribbon of ash.

    The kids lit a snake on the driveway and watched a curl of black ash push its way out of the little pellet.

    Note

    Shortened from black snake, the novelty firework that swells into a trail of ash when lit. The full phrase is also the common name of real reptiles: Australian species of Pseudechis, and North American ones such as Coluber constrictor and Pantherophis obsoletus. Around fireworks, context keeps the short form clear. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Snake, meaning the firework, is shortened from black snake. en.wiktionary.org
    • The black snake firework expands into a snake-like trail of ash when ignited. en.wiktionary.org
    • Black snake is a common name for Australian species of Pseudechis. en.wikipedia.org
    • Black snake can denote Coluber constrictor, a North American snake. en.wikipedia.org
    • Black snake can denote Pantherophis obsoletus, a North American snake. en.wikipedia.org
12. 12
    verb

    To wind a smaller rope or cord spirally around a larger one, with the small line lying in the grooves between the strands; to worm.
13. 13
    noun

    In computer graphics, a series of connected Bézier curves forming one continuous path.
14. 14
    noun

    Short for snake in the tunnel: the 1970s European arrangement that kept member currencies within narrow limits of one another.

    The snake failed to provide an anchor for currency stability and, through it, disinflation.

    2001, W. Bonefeld, The Politics of Europe: Monetary Union and Class
15. 15
    noun

    The seventh card in the Lenormand cartomancy deck.