Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Related Topic Clusters

Crossword and Word Game Strategy Vocabulary

Word patterns and vocabulary cues to solve anagrams, ladders, and clue-based games faster.

Adder

//ˈædɚ// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any snake. obsolete

    "CALIBAN: His spirits hear me, / And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch / Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i'th' mire, / Nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark / Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but / For every trifle are they set upon me, / Sometimes like apes that mow and chatter at me, / And after bite me; then like hedgehogs, which / Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount / Their pricks at my footfall; sometimes am I / All wound with adders, who with their cloven tongues / Do hiss me into madness—"

  2. 2
    Someone who or something which performs arithmetic addition; a machine for adding numbers.
  3. 3
    A person who has attention deficit disorder. informal

    "Many ADDers become targets for bullies and are routinely harassed at school."

  4. 4
    small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia wordnet
  5. 5
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera British

    "Entirely filled with the image of another, her heart, indeed, had the deaf ear of the adder, which heedeth not the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely."

Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    An electronic device that adds voltages, currents or frequencies.
  2. 7
    a machine that adds numbers wordnet
  3. 8
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera; A common European adder (Vipera berus). British
  4. 9
    Something which adds or increases.

    "They sought out cost adders with an eye toward eliminating them."

  5. 10
    a person who adds numbers wordnet
  6. 11
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; A puff adders, of Africa (genus Bitis).
  7. 12
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders; A milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum). Canada, US
  8. 13
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders; A hog-nosed snake, of genus Heterodon of harmless colubrid snakes found in North America Canada, US
  9. 14
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; Certain venomous snakes resembling other adders; Death adders (Acanthophis spp.), elapid snakes found in Southeast Asia and Australia
  10. 15
    A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.; Certain venomous snakes resembling other adders; A northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen), a venomous viper found in the eastern United States
  11. 16
    A sea stickleback or adder fish (Spinachia spinachia).

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre (“snake”), from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ, from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”). See also West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter; also Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”), Dutch naaien.

Etymology 2

From add + -er.

Etymology 3

From ADD + -er.

See also for "adder"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: adder