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Definition of dekay's brown snake
dekay's brown snake
Plural:dekay's brown snakes
dekay's brown snake Lexical Profile
CEFR
C2
Grade
9
Tier
3
Usage
Rare
• noun
1
North American A small, non-venomous colubrid snake native to North and Central America, typically featuring a brown or grayish body with a lighter dorsal stripe, often found in gardens where it feeds on slugs and earthworms.
Example
"While weeding the flowerbeds, she uncovered a small DeKay's brown snake hiding quietly beneath a damp rotting log."
Word Nuance & Usage
Because of their common brown coloration and pattern, DeKay's brown snakes are sometimes mistakenly feared to be juvenile copperheads, though they are entirely harmless to humans.
Word Origin & Etymology
Named in honor of 19th-century American naturalist James Ellsworth De Kay, who collected the first documented specimen in Long Island, New York.
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Dekay's brown snake. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 14, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/dekay's brown snake