1. Any of several venomous snakes, especially of the genus Naja, that are native to Asia and Africa and are capable of expanding the skin of the neck to form a flattened hood.
2. Leather made from the skin of one of these snakes.

[Short for Portuguese cobra (de capello), snake (with a hood), from Latin colubra, feminine of coluber.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.