Main Entry:

co·bra

Pronunciation:

\ˈkō-brə\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Portuguese cobra (de capello), literally, hooded snake, from Latin colubra snake

Date:

1802

: any of several venomous Asian and African elapid snakes (genera Naja and Ophiophagus) that when excited expand the skin of the neck into a hood by movement of the anterior ribs ; also : any of several related African snakes