: a powerful businessman and especially formerly a foreigner living and operating in Hong Kong or China
: an exceedingly venomous elapid snake (Oxyuranus scutellatus) of northern Australia and New Guinea
also
: either of two related snakes (O. microlepidotus and O. temporalis)
Examples of taipan in a Sentence
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Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 2 May 2025
Another version of the story has Jardine Matheson's taipan being greeted by a 21-gun salute, to the horror of the local military who reserve that tradition for high ranking officers.
—CNN, 8 June 2021
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Noun
The snakes come from the elapid family and include cobras, mambas, taipans, coral snakes, and kraits — among other venomous species.
—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 2 May 2025
Another version of the story has Jardine Matheson's taipan being greeted by a 21-gun salute, to the horror of the local military who reserve that tradition for high ranking officers.
—CNN, 8 June 2021
Cite this Entry
“Taipan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taipan. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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