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Definition of rough earth snake
rough earth snake
Plural:rough earth snakes
• noun
1
American A small, non-venomous colubrid snake (Haldea striatula) native to the southeastern United States, characterized by a solid brown or gray back, keeled scales, and a secretive lifestyle mostly spent underground or beneath leaf litter.
Example
"While gardening in her Texas backyard, she gently moved a small rough earth snake that had been hiding beneath a damp log."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often confused with the closely related smooth earth snake, which shares a similar size and habitat but lacks the strongly keeled scales that give the rough earth snake its name.
• Nearby Words
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Rough earth snake. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 19, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/rough%20earth%20snake