snakes 1 of 2

Definition of snakesnext
plural of snake
1
2
3

snakes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of snake
1
2
as in creeps
to move slowly with the body close to the ground commandos snaking through the grass toward the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of snakes
Noun
Attendees can explore a wide variety of reptiles available for purchase, including snakes, lizards, turtles and more. Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 29 Jan. 2026 The toe caps of these shoes were fashioned to look like snakes and birds. José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 26 Jan. 2026 Were there lots of snakes around? Chris Willman, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026 Chirring insects, cool eels, darting dice snakes in the Volga delta. Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026 This April, biologists will return to the field to capture more pregnant snakes whose babies will be born and reared at the zoo. Pepper St. Clair, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026 The song sees Swift sing about being trapped in a cell filled with snakes, which many have interpreted to be a nod to Kim. Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Jan. 2026 Although the temperature at which garden snakes begin to seek shelter varies by species, all snakes look for places such old animal burrows, compost piles, root holes in the soil, or under decks, rock walls, log piles, or decaying logs to spend the winter. Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 19 Jan. 2026 Australia's infamous for the variety of ways its wildlife can kill you — deadly snakes, spiders, and jellyfish. Holly Williams, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
Verb
Make the Road Action and New York Communities for Change backed Reynoso over rival Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in the battle for the deep-blue district that snakes through parts of northern Brooklyn and western Queens. Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026 The skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park in Chicago is an artificial trail that snakes a quarter-mile around towering climbing walls, with glittering skyscrapers for a backdrop. Ginger Crichton, Midwest Living, 9 Jan. 2026 Englewood is home to Cedar Point Environmental Park along Lemon Bay, where pine flatwoods cover most of the park, and Oyster Creek Regional Park, where a boardwalk snakes through tidal mangroves, allowing visitors to enjoy bird-watching. Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 8 Dec. 2025 Two incumbents — west Charlotte’s Thelma Byers-Bailey and Summer Nunn, whose district snakes along the county’s southern border — chose not to run for reelection to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education. Josh Bergeron, Charlotte Observer, 2 Nov. 2025 In its search for ample sunlight, the species tightly snakes up trees. Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 22 Oct. 2025 The campers and counselors died after torrential rain forced water levels on the river, which snakes through multiple summer camps in the region, to rise from 3 feet to 30 feet in a matter of hours. Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2025 The district snakes through southeast Texas from the border near Hidalgo − through Pulido's native Edinburg − and northward up around Corpus Christi, where the Tejano singer Selena has her roots. Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025 The Wild Flint The Flint snakes down Georgia, a safe distance from I-85 and I-75, before joining the Chattahoochee River in Lake Seminole and cutting across the Florida Panhandle as the Apalachicola River. David Hanson, Southern Living, 13 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for snakes
Noun
  • Dark-orange lines, like heavy serpents, stripe the sands, gray rivers stripe the sands.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Were a lot of serpents biting people in those days.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • In 2022, Japanese researchers found that dogs produced tears when reuniting with their humans.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Ending the retail sales of dogs is a crucial way to reduce demand from puppy mills.
    DP Opinion, Denver Post, 26 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • The play will tell a story inspired by the program’s format, in which a group of faithfuls try to root out the traitors, and will be staged at an unnamed London venue.
    Max Goldbart, Deadline, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Proceed with caution, faithful readers… The die is cast — the traitors and faithfuls have been chosen, and their clothes are doing the slaying (all puns intended).
    Jamie Allison Sanders, PEOPLE, 16 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • As its name suggests, the asterism lurks relatively low on the horizon in the winter months for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere, but rises high overhead during short summer nights.
    Anthony Wood, Space.com, 28 Jan. 2026
  • With all things in the beauty galaxy, there’s always a new hope, but of course a phantom menace lurks around every corner.
    Brennan Kilbane, Allure, 15 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Mintz agrees that intentional time matters, especially when guilt creeps in.
    Jennifer Jay Palumbo, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Each 40-ish minute episode following the premiere delivers diminishing returns, Elba can only beg people to listen to him so many times before growing monotonous, and when the train creeps to a polite stop at its final destination, there’s little suspense to the resolution and even less sense.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 14 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • 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
  • Now, young people are buying venomous pet vipers.
    Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • That pressure sneaks into how candidates speak, frame their stories and answer even routine questions.
    Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Romance sneaks into your schedule, making things feel disruptive and unexpected, Virgo.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 17 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • John Tufts The weather outside is about to get frightful as a potentially dangerous winter storm crawls its way across the country.
    John Tufts, IndyStar, 23 Jan. 2026
  • In the video, the coyote crawls out of the water and struggles to get his footing once on the rocks.
    Amanda Hari, CBS News, 20 Jan. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Snakes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snakes. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on snakes

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!