snakeling

From snake +‎ -ling.

snakeling (plural snakelings)

1. diminutive of snake

   Synonym: snakelet

   • 1894, Rudyard Kipling, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi:

     But just as Teddy was stooping, something flinched a little in the dust, and a tiny voice said: "Be careful. I am death!" It was Karait, the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth; and his bite is as dangerous as the cobra's. But he is so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he does the more harm to people.

   1. a snake hatchling
   2. a young snake
   3. a small snake