Meaning & use
garter snake
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small harmless North American snake with long stripes along its body, often found near water or in gardens.
Grammar: Countable: one garter snake, two garter snakes.
Patterns
- a garter snake in the garden
- a common garter snake
A garter snake slid through the wet grass and disappeared under the shed.
Garter snakes are harmless, but many people still jump when they see one.
The children caught a garter snake, looked at it carefully, and let it go.
nouncountabletechnical
Any of several closely related species of this snake, especially the common garter snake of North America.
Grammar: Used with modifiers to name particular species: the common garter snake, the eastern garter snake.
Patterns
- the common garter snake
- the eastern garter snake
Biologists studying the common garter snake have learned a lot about how snakes choose mates.
The eastern garter snake is one of the most familiar reptiles in the region.
Word forms
| plural | garter snakes |
|---|
Common combinations
- common garter snake
- The common garter snake is often seen basking on rocks in the sun.
- a harmless garter snake
- She picked up the harmless garter snake to move it off the road.
- garter snake habitat
- Wet meadows provide ideal garter snake habitat.
- spot a garter snake
- If you walk quietly, you may spot a garter snake near the pond.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grass snake
- Used in British English for a similar harmless striped snake; it is a different species, so use 'garter snake' for the American one.
- ribbon snake
- A slimmer, closely related North American snake; it is more slender and usually lives nearer water than a garter snake.
Word family
- garter noun
- A band worn around the leg to hold up a sock or stocking; the snake's stripes were thought to look like such bands.
Commonly confused: garter snake or garden snake? garter snake or grass snake?
garter snake vs garden snake
A common informal name for the same animal, not a different species; 'garter snake' is the standard term.
garter snake vs grass snake
A British snake, not the American garter snake, though both are harmless and striped.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'garter snake' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Garter snake' names a small harmless striped North American snake, so option 1 is correct. Option 0 confuses it with a 'garter' (the leg band), option 2 invents a plant meaning, and option 3 is false because garter snakes are not dangerous.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “garter snake”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.