Adder
['ædə] or ['ædɚ]
Definition
(noun.) small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia.
(noun.) a machine that adds numbers.
(noun.) a person who adds numbers.
Typist: Rachel--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding numbers.
(n.) A serpent.
(n.) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common European adder is the Vipera (/ Pelias) berus. The puff adders of Africa are species of Clotho.
(n.) In America, the term is commonly applied to several harmless snakes, as the milk adder, puffing adder, etc.
(n.) Same as Sea Adder.
Edited by Cheryl
Definition
n. the popular English name of the viper.—ns. Ad′der's-tongue a genus of ferns the seeds of which grow on a spike resembling a serpent's tongue; Ad′der's-wort a wort or plant so called from its being supposed to cure the bite of serpents—also called Snakeweed.
Edited by Juanita
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of seeing an adder strike, and a friend, who is dead but seems to be lying down and breathing, rises partly to a sitting position when the adder strikes at him, and then both disappearing into some bushes nearby, denotes that you will be greatly distressed over the ill luck of friends, and a loss threatened to yourself. For a young woman to see an adder, foretells a deceitful person is going to cause her trouble. If it runs from her, she will be able to defend her character in attacks made on her.
Typed by Claus
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. A species of snake. So called from its habit of adding funeral outlays to the other expenses of living.
Edited by Diana
Examples
- She has suffered somewhat from the bite of the adder; but it is exhaustion which has overpowered her. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Do you think we did well in using the adder's fat? Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It is a swamp adder! Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- I will never kill another adder as long as I live. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- His praises were so many adder's stings infixed in my vulnerable breast. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Susan now arrived with the frying pan, when the live adder was killed and the heads of the three taken off. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- She has been stung by an adder! Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The good Book says, 'it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- You must rub the place with the fat of other adders, and the only way to get that is by frying them. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Now, if I had been stung by ten adders I should hardly have lost a day's work for't, said Grandfer Cantle. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- From the tone in which this was spoken, John saw the necessity of acquiescence I did but jest, he said; and you turn upon me like so many adders! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Typist: Oliver