gray rat snake

noun

plural gray rat snakes

: a large, heavy-bodied, nonvenomous rat snake (Pantherophis spiloides synonym Elaphe spiloides) of the eastern and central U.S. that is gray with brown to dark gray blotches on the back

Note: In an alternative classification system, the gray rat snake is not considered a separate species but rather included within other subspecies (Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus and P. obsoletus spiloides) of a common rat snake.

compare eastern rat snake, western rat snake

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above