Definition of "serpent" []

• A reptile of the order Serpentes; a snake. (noun)
• In the Bible, the creature that tempted Eve. (noun)
• Satan. (noun)
• A subtle, sly, or treacherous person. (noun)
• A firework that writhes while burning. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As Eve gave her confidence to the serpent, she lost confidence in God, and went on to believe that when _God_ had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," and the _serpent_ said, "Ye shall not surely die," it was the serpent that spoke the truth."
• "Practitioners, or self-described sign-followers, prefer the term serpent-handling to snake-handling noting that they incorporate poisonous reptiles not common snakes into religious worship."
• "In the Lewis they call the serpent _righinn_, that is, '_a princess; _' and they say that the serpent is a princess bewitched."