constrictor

/kənˈstrɪktər/

Other forms: constrictors

Snakes that kill their prey by squeezing them to death are known as constrictors. The most well-known of these is the huge boa constrictor.

Most constrictors aren't venomous, but instead use their powerful coils to subdue animals, wrapping their bodies in loops around their prey. The process of constriction can take a while, in part because constrictors keep tabs on their victim's heartbeat, waiting for it to slow. Rather than crushing or suffocating prey, these big snakes constrict their blood from flowing — which is the source of their name, from a Latin root meaning "compress."

Definitions of constrictor

1. noun

   any of various large nonvenomous snakes that kill their prey by crushing it in its coils
   types:

   boa

   any of several chiefly tropical constrictors with vestigial hind limbs

   Constrictor constrictor, boa constrictor

   very large boa of tropical America and West Indies

   Charina bottae, rubber boa, tow-headed snake

   boa of grasslands and woodlands of western North America; looks and feels like rubber with tail and head of similar shape

   Lichanura trivirgata, rosy boa

   boa of rocky desert of southwestern United States

   Eunectes murinus, anaconda

   a semi-aquatic, non-venomous constrictor snake of South America

   python

   large Old World boas

   type of:

   ophidian, serpent, snake

   limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous