How to Use cottonmouth in a Sentence

cottonmouth

noun
  • One creek’s water spills into that of another easy as a cottonmouth twists round its mate.
    — Roey Leonardi, The Atlantic, 25 June 2023
  • The terms cottonmouth and water moccasin for this species are synonymous.
    — Cole Sikes Communications and Marketing Specialist Alabama Cooperative Extension System, al, 25 Apr. 2023
  • Four cops worked together to capture the snake, which is also often called a cottonmouth.
    — Tiffini Theisen, orlandosentinel.com, 10 July 2019
  • Watch how to tell the difference between a deadly cottonmouth snake and a nonvenomous rat snake in this video.
    — Joe Marusak, charlotteobserver, 15 June 2018
  • The four venomous groups are rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes.
    — Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • Other pit vipers include rattlesnakes and cottonmouths.
    — Charlotte Observer, 8 June 2026
  • The name cottonmouth comes from the white interior mouth, which the snake will often display when it feels threatened as a warning.
    — Dennis Pillion | [email protected], al, 1 Aug. 2022
  • More generally, cottonmouths have broad heads and dark stripes that run through their eyes, as well as deep facial pits between their eyes and nostrils.
    — Sarah Perkel, USA Today, 3 June 2026
  • There’s actually a piece of the head that prevents the cottonmouth from looking directly up.
    — Dennis Pillion | [email protected], al, 15 Aug. 2022
  • The mountain preachers who will pick up cottonmouths and rattlers and sway around the altar just daring God to let one of those serpents strike.
    — Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Tennessee's most venomous snake is the cottonmouth, or water moccasin.
    — Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The cottonmouth can be found throughout the entire state, much like the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
    — Sarah Perkel, USA Today, 3 June 2026
  • For those making weekend trips to Lake of the Ozarks, northern cottonmouths can sometimes be spotted.
    — Sophie Lindberg, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026
  • By far the most common species, which accounts for over 90 percent of all sightings, is the venomous northern cottonmouth.
    — Owen Clarke, Outside, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Venomous snakes—including the timber rattlesnake, the copperhead, and the cottonmouth—all make this area their home.
    — Erika Ebsworth-Goold, Travel + Leisure, 7 Mar. 2026
  • These are one of four venomous snakes found in Texas alongside rattlesnakes, cottonmouths (also known as water moccasins) and coral snakes.
    — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Still, your odds of being bitten on the face by a cottonmouth are higher while noodling than while attending a musical, for example.
    — Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 15 June 2023
  • Many of these are naturally mistaken for the cottonmouth, or water moccasin, a venomous species that lives in and around the water.
    — Dennis Pillion | [email protected], al, 15 Aug. 2022
  • And the previous homeowners had found venomous snakes on the property, including a cottonmouth coiled by the pool.
    — Emily Willingham, Scientific American, 23 Aug. 2022
  • Copperheads belong to a sub-family of snakes (crotalinae) known as pit vipers, a group that includes cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.
    — Francis Skalicky, USA TODAY, 6 July 2017
  • Note that all pit vipers — cottonmouths, copperheads and rattlesnakes — require the same antivenom, and most hospitals have a good supply on hand.
    — Brandi D. Addison, Austin American Statesman, 31 July 2025
  • Note that all pit vipers — cottonmouths, copperheads, and rattlesnakes — require the same antivenom, and most hospitals have a good supply on hand.
    — Brandi D. Addison, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
  • Common venomous snakes in the state include rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, and coral snakes, with rattlesnakes being the most common.
    — Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Mar. 2026
  • Water moccasins, also known as cottonmouths, are identified as a venomous snake by Texas Parks and Wildlife.
    — William Axford, Houston Chronicle, 9 Jan. 2018
  • In tracking this python, researchers were led to an adult cottonmouth at Big Cypress National Preserve.
    — Wyatte Grantham-Philips, USA TODAY, 24 Aug. 2022
  • However, the researchers also note the prevalence of the two species that together accounted for more than 50% of the bites – pygmy rattlesnakes and cottonmouths.
    — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
  • In the last few years, Republicans who’ve dipped a toe in anti-Trump waters have quickly recoiled, as though a cottonmouth lurked just below the surface.
    — Elaina Plott, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2020
  • Tennessee's other venomous snakes are copperheads and cottonmouths.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Tennessee's other venomous snakes are copperheads and cottonmouths.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The most common venomous snakes across the Metroplex are cottonmouths, copperheads and the western diamond rattlesnake, Kennedy said.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 July 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cottonmouth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: