Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, resembling, or characteristic of a viper, especially one of the subfamily Viperinae, such as a horned viper.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Resembling or related to the viper; of or pertaining to the Viperina, especially in the narrower sense: broadly distinguished from
colubrine , more strictly contrasted with crotaline. - A harmless colubrine serpent of Europe, Tropidonotus viperina, colored much like the true viper. See cut under
snake . - noun A member of the Viperina; a viper.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a viper or vipers; resembling a viper.
- adjective (Zoöl.) A harmless snake resembling a viper in form or color, esp.
Tropidonotus viperinus , a small European species which resembles the viper in color.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or relating to a
viper or vipers; resembling a viper.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But your Lamia has taught you some subtle 'viperine' reasoning and motiving, for the turning down one street instead of another.
The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 1898
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But your Lamia has taught you some subtle 'viperine' reasoning and
The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 Robert Browning 1850
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Well into one of the dimmest Broadway seasons in recent memory, Rob Ashford has lit the lights with a smart and satisfying production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," the Frank Loesser-Abe Burrows musical that taught a generation of viperine office politicians how to stick a shiv into their bosses without leaving any fingerprints on the handle.
Lovable, Huggable, And Unscrupulous Too Terry Teachout 2011
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Europe, brought in by Monsieur de Nucingen, put her viperine head in at the door, and after listening to a few words whispered in her ear by her mistress, she vanished.
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His broad cheekbones and narrow chin gave his face something of the viperine V.
The Door in the Wall, and other stories Herbert George 2006
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Five or six grains of this viperine poison, mixed with half an ounce of human blood, received in a warm glass, produce no visible effects, either in colour or consistence, nor do portions of this poisoned blood, mixed with acids or alkalies, exhibit any alterations.
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This was in February, 1852, and when the Tablet attributed the riots and loss of life at Stockport to the Government's proclamation "against processions, vestments, and the free exercise of the Catholic religion," charged the Ministers responsible with planning murder, and described the Queen's speech as "a vile and hypocritical document," Punch replied to the editor that "we, the mass of Englishmen, look upon your viperine expectorations with simple antipathy and disgust."
Mr. Punch`s history of modern England, Volume I -- 1841-1857 Charles Larcom 1921
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As I pluck a ruddy-hearted bloom, viperine thorns sting my flesh.
Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910
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His broad cheekbones and narrow chin gave his face something of the viperine V.
The Door in the Wall, and Other Stories Herbert George 1911
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His broad cheekbones and narrow chin gave his face something of the viperine V.
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