ˈbōəˌdē noun plural
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Boa, type genus + -idae
: a family of sometimes very large nonvenomous snakes having teeth in both jaws and rudiments of hind limbs in the form of hooks or spurs and preying chiefly on warm-blooded animals which they kill by crushing, the family being usually regarded as including the boas, anacondas, and related snakes of the New World tropics in addition to the Old World pythons — see pythonidae