milk snake

noun

: a common, harmless king snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) chiefly of North and Central America that is either ringed with bands of black, red, and yellow or white or is gray or tan with brown, black-bordered blotches and a Y- or V-shaped marking on the back of the neck
… the remarkable similarity between the venomous coral snake and the harmless milk snake, which mimics the coral snake's colors to protect itself. The tricky difference between the two brightly color-banded snakes is summarized by the saying: "Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, friend of Jack." Robert Hughes

Examples of milk snake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
According to the Weixin post, snakes native to North America like the Texas rat snake and the milk snake were discovered in the smuggler's trousers. Jasmine Baehr, Fox News, 12 July 2024 The Guatemalan milk snake had much smaller hemiclitores, measuring 0.1 inches long and 0.06 inches wide, per the Times. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Dec. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of milk snake was in 1800

Dictionary Entries Near milk snake

Cite this Entry

“Milk snake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milk%20snake. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

milk snake

noun
: a common harmless gray or tan snake with black-bordered brown blotches and an arrow-shaped spot on the head
also : king snake

More from Merriam-Webster on milk snake

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!