Taipan
WordNet
noun
(1) Large highly venomous snake of northeastern Australia
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From the name of the Thaypan tribe of Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.
Noun
- any of a venomous species of snake, of the family Elapidae, found in Australia and New Guinea
- a foreign businessman in China; a tycoon
- 1922: W. Somerset Maugham, "The Taipan"
- Of course it was very sad, but the taipan could hardly help a smile when he thought how many of these young fellows he had drunk underground.
- 1922: W. Somerset Maugham, "The Taipan"