Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A serpent whose bite was said to produce a mortal thirst.
- noun [capitalized] [NL.] The typical genus of serpents of the family Dipsadidæ. D. dendrophila is East Indian, D. fasciata West African.
- noun [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of fresh-water bivalves, of the family Unionidæ, or river-mussels.
- noun [capitalized] [NL.] A genus of butterflies, of the family Lycænidæ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A serpent whose bite was fabled to produce intense thirst.
- noun (Zoöl.) A genus of harmless colubrine snakes.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The dipsas is a kind of asp, called in Latin situla because anyone bitten by it dies of thirst.
Archive 2008-02-01 2008
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The dipsas is a kind of asp, called in Latin situla because anyone bitten by it dies of thirst.
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The scytalas was like "a staff;" the acontias, like "a javelin;" the dipsas was a thirsty snake.
The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus During the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens Ammianus Marcellinus 1851
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Book 12, 4:32: The dipsas is such a rare snake that its trampled without being seen.
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Book 12, 4:32: The dipsas is such a rare snake that its trampled without being seen.
Archive 2008-02-01 2008
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"What's a dipsas?" she asked Chem, who was now picking her way forward again.
Dragon on a Pedestal Anthony, Piers 1983
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This bite of the dipsas does seem to fit the description.
Dragon on a Pedestal Anthony, Piers 1983
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This reptile is probably the torrida dipsas of antiquity.
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And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness, wherein there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the scorpion and the dipsas, and no waters at all: who brought forth streams out of the hardest rock,
The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Book 05: Deuteronomy The Challoner Revision
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And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness, wherein there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the scorpion and the dipsas, and no waters at all: who brought forth streams out of the hardest rock,
The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete Anonymous
qms commented on the word dipsas
The serpent in Eden was first
But that one was hardly the worst.
The sinister dipsas
Who whispers, "Here, sip this,"
Condemns to perpetual thirst.
April 28, 2015