Definition of ophidian in US English:

ophidian

Zoology

A reptile of the group Ophidia; a snake.
- ‘Moreover, they provide a first insight into the composition of the earliest ophidian venoms and point the way toward a research program that could elucidate the functional context of the evolution of the snake venom proteome.’
- ‘If you have always been afraid of snakes, visit a zoo with an ophidian exhibit.’
- ‘With a price tag of about Rp 200,000, you either have to be an ophidian connoisseur or be firmly convinced of the health-giving properties.’
- ‘Some aspects of the ophidian anatomy can be explained by an aquatic mode of life of their putative ancestor, but others are more easily explained by a terrestrial ancestry of snakes.’

Zoology

Relating to or denoting snakes.
- ‘As indicated by the morphological description above, the postcranial skeleton of Haasiophis (and Pachyrhachis) generally corresponds to an ophidian morphology with no apparent regionalization of the precaudal (precloacal) axial skeleton.’
- ‘Alethinophidians and scolecophidians form a monophyletic ophidian clade that is also unresolved within scleroglossans.’
- ‘Boas and pythons still possess vestigial remnants of hind limbs, called "anal claws," which indicate that they are basal members of the ophidian clade.’