a snake in the grass

snake in the grass

One who feigns friendship with the intent to deceive. Did you hear that Daria's best friend stole money from her bank account? What a snake in the grass.

See also: grass, snake

a snake in the grass

If you describe someone as a snake in the grass, you mean they are false because they pretend to be your friend while actually harming you. He's a snake in the grass — a guy you really can't trust. Note: This phrase was first used by the Roman poet Virgil in his work `The Eclogues' to refer to a hidden danger.

See also: grass, snake

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a snake in the grass

a treacherous or deceitful person.

Since the late 17th century this expression has entirely superseded the earlier idiom a pad in the straw . Pad is an old dialect term for a toad, an animal that was formerly thought to be poisonous.

See also: grass, snake

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a ˌsnake in the ˈgrass

(disapproving) a person who pretends to be your friend but who cannot be trusted: We used to be friends, but who knew he’d turn out to be such a snake in the grass?

See also: grass, snake

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References in periodicals archive ?

It began with a snake in the grass - but ended with a snake in a substation transformer, and a power outage that affected 1,116 Eugene Water & Electric Board customers late Sunday morning.

Power outage blamed on garter snake

A SNAKE in the grass became more than a phrase for one Nuneaton resident who found a slithery intruder in their back garden.

Snake's alive, that's no garden worm! Slithery intruder found in resident's back garden