[ NL. See Boa, and Constrictor. ] (Zool.) A large and powerful serpent of tropical America, sometimes twenty or thirty feet long. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ 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
n.
a. (Physiol.) Causing constriction of the blood vessels;
n. (Medicine, Physiology) A substance which causes constriction of the blood vessels. Such substances are used in medicine to raise abnormally low blood pressure. [ PJC ]