pit viper

noun

: any of various mostly New World vipers (subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae) with a sensory pit on each side of the head and hollow perforated retractable fangs

Examples of pit viper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Saint Lucia fer de lance The Saint Lucia fer de lance (Bothrops caribbaeus) is a highly venomous pit viper found on the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia and the Lesser Antilles. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Jan. 2026

Other shipments sent by Lin included alligator lizards, venomous green tree vipers and palm pit vipers, all protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. —Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025

Since the movie's release, searches for the Indonesian pit viper and sales of the snake have gone up on major Chinese e-commerce platforms, according to CNN. —Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025

The duo comes face-to-face with a mysterious pit viper, Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan). —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 9 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pit viper

• sandpiper
• diaper
• hyper
• piper
• riper
• sniper
• wiper

Kids Definition

pit viper

noun

: any of various mostly New World poisonous snakes that have a small pit on each side of the head and hollow fangs with holes in them

Medical Definition

pit viper

noun

: any of various mostly New World highly specialized venomous snakes (as the rattlesnake, copperhead, water moccasin, and fer-de-lance) that belong to a subfamily (Crotalinae) of the family Viperidae, that have a small depression on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril, and that have hollow perforated fangs usually folded back in the upper part of the mouth but erected in striking