cobra

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cobra^¹

/ˈkəʊbɹə/ UK
/ˈkɒbɹə/ UK
/ˈkoʊbɹə/ US

Rhymes with -əʊbɹə, -ɒbɹə, -oʊbɹə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Portuguese cobra, from Latin colubra (“a female snake”).

noun cobras

Any of the genus Naja of venomous snakes that can spread their neck ribs into a broad hood when threatened; a true cobra. In the pools, too, was a species of small alligator or enormous iguana, I do not know which, that fed, Billali told me, upon the waterfowl, also large quantities of a hideous black water-snake, of which the bite is very dangerous, though not, I gathered, so deadly as a cobra's or a puff adder's.
A ring-necked spitting cobra or rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus).
A king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah).
A tree cobra (genus Pseudohaje).
A shield-nosed cobra/coral cobra (genus Aspidelaps).
A black desert cobra (genus Walterinnesia).
An American cobra (Micrurus fulvius).
A false water cobra, Hydrodynastes gigas.
A type of lanyard knot, thought to resemble a snake in its shape.

COBRA^²

proper noun Cobra

UK, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Cabinet Office Briefing Room A
UK, abbreviation, acronym, broadly Acronym of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms
Similar: COBR
US, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, especially the provision that allows some employees to continue their group-based health insurance after leaving a job; also, health insurance obtained under this law. There were COBRA forms to fill out for insurance, and unemployment to file for.

noun COBRAs · Cobra

UK, broadly A cabinet committee meeting that would use a COBR room
UK, broadly A cabinet committee that would meet using a COBR room

Cobra^³

proper noun

UK Alternative letter-case form of COBRA Boris Johnson was accused on Saturday of being “missing in action” after failing to attend a Cobra meeting to discuss the national heatwave emergency following predictions that thousands could die in the coming days.
rare A male given name.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: snake, serpent, venom, spitting, charge, asp, elapid, coral snake, elapoid, rock snake, sand viper, blind snake, carpet viper, rat snake, thread snake, erycine

Translations

Every language

noun venomous snake

Español	cobra
한국어	코브라 kobeura
日本語	コブラ kobura, 眼鏡蛇 meganehebi
中文	眼鏡蛇 /眼镜蛇 yǎnjìngshé
हिन्दी	कोबरा kobrā, भुजंग bhujaṅg, काला kālā
Português	cobra-capelo, naja
Français	naja, cobra
Deutsch	Kobra
Italiano	cobra
Ελληνικά	κόμπρα kómpra
Română	cobră, cobra
Русский	ко́бра kóbra
Tiếng Việt	rắn hổ mang, hổ mang
العربية	كُوبْرَا kubrā, كُوبْرَا kūbrā, بَزَّاقَة bazzāqa
עברית	פֶּתֶן peṯen

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Cite this

MLA

"cobra." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cobra. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cobra. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cobra

Chicago

"cobra." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cobra.

BibTeX

@misc{cobra_2026,
  title = {cobra},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cobra},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}