Cobra Meaning
/ˈkəʊbɹə/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny of various venomous snakes of the genus Naja.
nounAny of the genus Naja of venomous snakes that can spread their neck ribs into a broad hood when threatened; a true cobra.
Sentence Examples
A cobra bit Tom.
Tom was bitten by a cobra.
Tom died three weeks ago after being bitten by a cobra.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The venomous ____ rose up and spread its hood in a defensive pose.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The venomous ____ is known for the hood it displays when angry.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Portuguese cobra, from Latin colubra (“a female snake”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the pools, too, was a species of small alligator or enormous iguana, I do not know which, that fed, Billali told me, upon the waterfowl, also large quantities of a hideous black water-snake, of which the bite is very dangerous, though not, I gathered, so deadly as a cobra's or a puff adder's."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"There were COBRA forms to fill out for insurance, and unemployment to file for."
— 2021, Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Canongate Books (2022), page 478:
"Boris Johnson was accused on Saturday of being “missing in action” after failing to attend a Cobra meeting to discuss the national heatwave emergency following predictions that thousands could die in the coming days."
— 2022 July 16, Mark Townsend, James Tapper, “Johnson skips emergency Cobra meeting as experts warn thousands may die in UK heatwave”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
"In the UK, a Cobra security meeting was called and in Estonia, which neighbours Russia, the prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said there was strengthened security on the border."
— 2023 June 24, Pjotr Sauer, Andrew Roth, “Putin accuses Wagner chief of treason and vows to ‘neutralise’ uprising”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The venomous ____ rose up and spread its hood in a defensive pose.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The venomous ____ is known for the hood it displays when angry.