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Definition of garter snake

garter snake

Plural:garter snakes
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garter snake Lexical Profile

• noun

1

North American Any of various common, harmless North American colubrid snakes of the genus Thamnophis, typically having prominent longitudinal stripes along the back.

Example

"While planting tomatoes in the backyard, she was startled by a small garter snake slithering through the mulch."

Word Nuance & Usage

Frequently misheard and mistakenly referred to as a 'garden snake' or 'gardener snake' due to phonetic similarity and the fact that they are commonly found in backyard gardens.

• Nearby Words

garra
garrya
garter
garter snake
gas
gas plant
gascoyne

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Garter snake. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 16, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/garter snake
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