Category:Boa Constrictor

Bo"a con*strict"or. Etym: [NL. See Boa, and Constrictor.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix.

Note: It has a succession of spots, alternately black and yellow, extending along the back. It kills its prey by constriction. The name is also loosely applied to other large serpents which crush their prey, particularly to those of the genus Python, found in Asia and Africa.