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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
serpentine
adjective
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a serpentine river
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And my narcissus bulbs were artistically arranged in a kind of serpentine wall around the whole thing.
▪ Her dark blonde hair and serpentine figure drew the approval of Sir Charles Webb-Bowen himself.
▪ Its proposed costly serpentine curve makes sense there, but not necessarily elsewhere.
▪ Proving very popular are the new serpentine bedside cabinets in real satinwood handpainted with classical motifs, at about £600.
▪ Sometimes, it is not the serpentine plots, but the dramatic realism that requires a second viewing.
▪ There are serpentine steps leading up from the road.
▪ Vent valves along serpentine pipes hissed.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Serpentine

Serpentine \Ser"pen*tine\, n. [Cf. (for sense 1) F. serpentine, (for sense 2) serpentin.]

  1. (Min.) A mineral or rock consisting chiefly of the hydrous silicate of magnesia. It is usually of an obscure green color, often with a spotted or mottled appearance resembling a serpent's skin. Precious, or noble, serpentine is translucent and of a rich oil-green color.

    Note: Serpentine has been largely produced by the alteration of other minerals, especially of chrysolite.

  2. (Ordnance) A kind of ancient cannon.

Serpentine

Serpentine \Ser"pen*tine\, a. [L. serpentinus: cf. F. serpentin.] Resembling a serpent; having the shape or qualities of a serpent; subtle; winding or turning one way and the other, like a moving serpent; anfractuous; meandering; sinuous; zigzag; as, serpentine braid.

Thy shape Like his, and color serpentine.
--Milton.

Serpentine

Serpentine \Ser"pen*tine\, v. i. To serpentize. [R.]
--Lyttleton.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
serpentine

c.1400, "plant reputed to contain antivenom," from Old French serpentin name of a precious stone, noun use of adjective meaning "of a snake, snake-like; sly, deceptive," from Late Latin serpentius "of a serpent," from Latin serpentem (nominative serpens) "snake" (see serpent). As the name of a greenish igneous rock consisting mainly of hydrous magnesium silicate, attested from early 15c.

serpentine

"twisting, winding," 1610s; see serpent + -ine (1). An earlier adjective meaning "having the evil qualities of a serpent" is recorded from late 14c., from the French source of serpentine (n.). The winding lake of that name in Hyde Park, London, was constructed in 1730.

Wiktionary
serpentine

Etymology 1

  1. 1 sinuous; curving in alternate directions. 2 Having the shape or form of a snake. 3 Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes. 4 Of, or having attributes associated with, the mythological serpent, such as craftiness or deceitfulness. n. 1 Any of several plants believed to cure snakebites. 2 An early form of cannon. 3 A coiled distillation tube. 4 (context maths English) Any of several related cubic curves; anguinea v

  2. (context archaic English) To serpentize; to turn or bend; to meander. Etymology 2

    a. (context geology botany English) Of or characteristic of serpentine rocks or the plants that grow there. n. 1 (label en mineralogy) Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of a magnesium and iron silicates that have similar layered crystal structure. 2 (context geology English) An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.

WordNet
serpentine

adj. resembling a serpent in form; "a serpentine wall"; "snaky ridges in the sand" [syn: snaky, snakelike]

Wikipedia
Serpentine

Serpentine may refer to:

Serpentine (album)

Serpentine is the fourth album by the German gothic metal band Flowing Tears, the second under the moniker Flowing Tears. This album would also be the last album to include Stefanie Duchêne on lead vocals, as she had to leave the band in 2004 due to her pregnancy.

Serpentine (video game)

Serpentine is a action computer game developed by David Snider and published by Brøderbund. The gameplay and visuals are similar to that of the Konami arcade game Jungler, released the previous year. Serpentine was originally written for the Apple II and ported to the VIC-20, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers.

Serpentine (alkaloid)

Serpentine is a terpene indole alkaloid produced by several members of the Apocynaceae family, including Catharanthus roseus and Rauvolfia serpentina.

Usage examples of "serpentine".

The typical locality is Baste in the Radauthal, Harz, where patches of pale greyish-green bastite are embedded in a darker-coloured serpentine.

All the while, Pony rubbed her fingers about several chosen stones: graphite and magnetite, the powerful ruby and protective serpentine and malachite.

Pony rubbed her fingers about several chosen stones: graphite and magnetite, the powerful ruby and protective serpentine and malachite.

Even from this distance and with so little light he could see that the enemy had sloughed off its ragged coat and moved in the air like a serpentine engine, its immense form in constant, peristaltic motion.

Here, in addition to schillerization, the original enstatite has been altered by hydration and the product has approximately the composition of serpentine.

The material is a soft greenish mottled serpentine, or serpentinoid limestone.

Two serpentine pools led away into shallow rocky cascades with reeds and lilies sprouting from outcrops and shelves in the slope.

Stalagmites squatted like gargoyles on the cave floor while tubular stalactites hung overhead, twisting in serpentine fashion.

They reached a park, where the moonlight glimmered on the waters of a curving canal - one of those serpentine waterways where aquaplaners frequently disported for the benefit of newsreel photographers.

The town had been laid out along the serpentine contours of Bayou Teche, which took its name from an Atakapa Indian word that meant snake.

Khem in obsidian, Bast in carnelian, Besa in serpentine, signets in jasper, and ropes of diamonds which had been Babylonian gems of spoil.

Before night the parties were all in, one detachment bearing the body of the bob-tailed catamount swung over a pole, like the mighty cluster of grapes from Eshcol, and another conveying with wise precaution that monstrous snapping-turtle which those of our friends who wish to see will find among the specimens marked Chelydra, Serpentine in the great collection at Cantabridge.

Shark Gulf, the plateau of Prospect Heights, Safety Islet, the granite rocks of Port Balloon, the basalts of Dakkar Grotto, the long Serpentine Peninsula, so distant nevertheless from the center of the eruption.

The Father Abbot wanted him to leap from the cliff, plummet to one particularly large tangle of powrie ships, enact the levitational malachite and the fire-shield serpentine, and then loose a fireball across the vessels.

Lastly, all the masses of impenetrable wood which covered the Serpentine Peninsula were named the forests of the Far West.