adder
/ˈædɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.69 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.
noun
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.
noun
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.
Example Sentences
- "CALIBAN: His spirits hear me, / And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch / Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i'th' mire, / Nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark / Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but / For every trifle are they set upon me, / Sometimes like apes that mow and chatter at me, / And after bite me; then like hedgehogs, which / Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount / Their pricks at my footfall; sometimes am I / All wound with adders, who with their cloven tongues / Do hiss me into madness—"
- "Entirely filled with the image of another, her heart, indeed, had the deaf ear of the adder, which heedeth not the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely."
- "These include the county's [Cumbria's] only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young."
- "They sought out cost adders with an eye toward eliminating them."
- "Many ADDers become targets for bullies and are routinely harassed at school."
Etymology
From Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre (“snake”), from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ, from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”). See also West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter; also Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”), Dutch naaien.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈædɚ/