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python

/ˈpaɪθɑn/
/ˈpaɪθɒn/
IPA guide

Other forms: pythons

A python is a very large, nonvenomous snake. Instead of injecting poison through their fangs, pythons kill by wrapping around and asphyxiating their prey. You certainly wouldn't want to be a python's main squeeze.

A python will grab smaller animals with its sharp teeth and then use its powerful coils to constrict the prey until it stops breathing. Pythons can also eat animals larger than they are — occasionally, pythons have been known to eat antelope and deer. The word python comes from Greek mythology, in which Python was a dragon or serpent who guarded the Delphic oracle until he was eventually killed by Apollo.

Definitions of python
  1. noun
    large Old World boas
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    types:
    Morelia spilotes variegatus, Python variegatus, carpet snake
    Australian python with a variegated pattern on its back
    Python reticulatus, reticulated python
    of southeast Asia and East Indies; the largest snake in the world
    Indian python, Python molurus
    very large python of southeast Asia
    Python sebae, rock python, rock snake
    very large python of tropical and southern Africa
    amethystine python
    a python having the color of amethyst
    type of:
    boa
    any of several chiefly tropical constrictors with vestigial hind limbs
  2. noun
    a common programming language for websites and software
  3. noun
    a soothsaying spirit or a person who is possessed by such a spirit
    see moresee less
    type of:
    disembodied spirit, spirit
    any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or audible) to human beings
Pronunciation
US
/ˈpaɪθɑn/
UK
/ˈpaɪθɒn/
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