serpantine.html - n.
1 usu. literary. a a snake, esp. of a large kind. b a scaly limbless reptile.
2 a sly or treacherous person, esp. one who exploits a position of trust to betray it.
3 Mus. an old bass wind instrument made from leather-covered wood, roughly in the form of an S.
4 (the Serpent) Bibl. Satan (see Gen . 3, Rev. 20). [ME f. OF f. L serpens -entis part. of serpere creep]

serpantine.html - adj., n., & v. --adj.

1 of or like a serpent.
2 coiling, tortuous, sinuous, meandering, writhing (the serpentine windings of the stream).
3 cunning, subtle, treacherous.

--n.

1 a soft rock mainly of hydrated magnesium silicate, usu. dark green and sometimes mottled or spotted like a serpent's skin, taking a high polish and used as a decorative material.
2 Skating a figure of three circles in a line.

--v.

intr. move sinuously, meander.

serpentine verse a metrical line beginning and ending with the same word. [ME f. OF serpentin f. LL serpentinus (as SERPENT)]

serpantine.html - adj.
(of a skin-disease etc.) creeping from one part to another. [med.L serpigo -ginis ringworm f. L serpere creep]

serpantine.html - abbr.
(in the UK) State earnings-related pension scheme.

serpantine.html - n.
(pl. serpulae) any of various marine worms of the family Serpulidae, living in intricately twisted shell-like tubes. [LL, = small serpent, f. L serpere creep]

serpantine.html - See: FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.