Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

death adder

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English

Syllables
death ad-der
IPA
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any snake of the genus Acanthophis, a group of highly venomous elapids found in Australia and New Guinea.

noun

A copperhead, a venomous pit viper species Agkistrodon contortrix, found in North America.

noun

An eastern hognose snake, Heterodon platirhinos, a non-venomous colubrid species found in North America.

Etymology

Sometimes suggested to derive from deaf adder, a colonial-era name for the snakes which referenced their tendency to remain in place (to ambush prey) rather than flee upon hearing human activity, but probably a simple reference to their venomousness.

Inflected Forms

death adders (plural)

Phrases

common death adder desert death adder

Synonyms

acanthophis antarcticus

Questions

What does death adder mean?
Any snake of the genus Acanthophis, a group of highly venomous elapids found in Australia and New Guinea.
Where does death adder come from?
Sometimes suggested to derive from deaf adder, a colonial-era name for the snakes which referenced their tendency to remain in place (to ambush prey) rather than flee upon hearing human activity, but probably a simple reference to their venomousness.

How to pronounce death adder

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “death adder”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “death adder”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “death adder” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.