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Alligator vs Snake - What's the difference?

alligator | snake |

As nouns the difference between alligator and snake

is that alligator is either of two species of large amphibious reptile, species: Alligator mississippiensis or species: Alligator sinensis, in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China while snake is a legless reptile of the sub-order Serpentes with a long, thin body and a fork-shaped tongue.

As verbs the difference between alligator and snake

is that alligator is to crack in a pattern resembling an alligator's skin while snake is to follow or move in a winding route.

As a proper noun Snake is

an early computer game, later popular on mobile phones, in which the player attempts to manoeuvre a perpetually growing snake so as to collect food items and avoid colliding with walls or the snake's tail.

alligator

Etymology 1

.

Noun

(en noun)
  • Either of two species of large amphibious reptile, , in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China.
  • All you could see of the alligator were its two eyes above the water, and suddenly it snatched up and caught the poor bird with its strong jaws full of sharp teeth .
  • * 2002 , Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, International Wildlife Encyclopedia , page 38,
  • Alligators and crocodiles look extremely alike.
    The main distinguishing feature is the teeth. In a crocodile the teeth in its upper and lower jaws are in line, but in an alligator , when its mouth is shut, the upper teeth lie outside the lower ones.
  • * 2007 , Bernie McGovern (editor), Florida Almanac: 2007-2008 , 17th Edition, page 243,
  • In 1967, the federal government declared alligators' to be an Endangered Species and prohibited gator hunting and the sale of hides. The ' alligator responded and by the mid-1970s, the reptile numbers soared to an estimated half-million.
  • * 2012 , Thomas N. Tozer, Pierre's Journey to Florida: Diary of a Young Huguenot in the Sixteenth Century , unnumbered page,
  • They ran to the village screaming at the top of their lungs that an alligator' was coming after them. Several of the men in Alimacani retrieved from a storehouse the tool they used to catch ' alligators .
  • Any of various machines with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator.
  • # (metalworking) A form of squeezer for the puddle ball.
  • # (mining) A rock breaker.
  • # (printing) A kind of job press.
  • Synonyms
    * (reptile within Crocodilia) gator (informal)
    Coordinate terms
    * (reptile within Crocodilia) caiman, cayman; croc, crocodile; gavial, gharial
    Derived terms
    * (Alligator Alley) * alligator apple * alligator bait * alligator clip * alligatored * alligator fish * alligator forceps * alligator gar * alligator grass * alligatoring * alligator leather * alligator lizard * alligator pear * (Alligator Pond) * alligator press * alligator shear * alligator skin * alligator snapper, alligator snapping turtle * alligator spread * alligator terrapin * alligator tortoise * alligator turtle, alligator-turtle * alligator weed * alligator wood * alligator wrench * American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis ) * Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis ) * gator * prairie alligator * see you later alligator * spectacled alligator

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of paint or other coatings) To crack in a pattern resembling an alligator's skin.
  • * 2003 , Carson Dunlop & Associates, Essentials of Home Inspection: Roofing , page 24,
  • Alligatoring is a result of the sun making the top surface of the asphalt brittle.
  • * 2004 , James E. Piper, Handbook of Facility Assessment , page 39,
  • Sealing an area that is alligatoring' is a temporary solution that may delay having to replace the asphalt for several years. A more permanent repair would be to replace the ' alligatored section.
  • * 2009 , Kären M. Hess, Christine M. H. Orthmann, Criminal Investigation , page 483,
  • Common burn indicators include alligatoring , crazing, the depth of char, lines of demarcation, sagged furniture springs and spalling.

    References

    *

    Etymology 2

    .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) One who binds or ties.
  • See also
    * ligator ----

    snake

    English

    (wikipedia snake)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A legless reptile of the sub-order Serpentes with a long, thin body and a fork-shaped tongue.
  • * '>citation
  • A treacherous person.
  • * '>citation
  • A tool for unclogging plumbing.
  • A tool to aid cable pulling.
  • (slang) A trouser snake; the penis.
  • Synonyms

    * (reptile) joe blake, serpent * (plumbing tool) auger, plumber's snake * (tool for cable pulling) wirepuller

    Derived terms

    * snakebite * snake in the grass * snake oil

    Verb

    (snak)
  • To follow or move in a winding route.
  • The path snaked through the forest.
  • * {{quote-newsgroup
  • , title=Football fever... , group=aus.personals , author=Mark Addinall , date=September 24 , year=1996 , passage=Any Brisbane female interested in snaking down a few beers whilst watching the footy on a big screen? citation
    The river snakes through the valley.
  • (transitive, Australia, slang) To steal slyly.
  • He snaked my DVD!
  • * {{quote-newsgroup
  • , title=Home made supercharger ? , group=aus.cars , author=Hyena , date=April 5 , year=2001 , passage=Although it wouldn't be the first time some one patented an idea that I'd had a year earlier.F*CK ME !!  Snaked again ! citation
  • To clean using a plumbing snake.
  • (US, informal) To drag or draw, as a snake from a hole; often with out .
  • (Bartlett)
  • (nautical) To wind round spirally, as a large rope with a smaller, or with cord, the small rope lying in the spaces between the strands of the large one; to worm.
  • Synonyms

    * (move in a winding path) slither, wind

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * *