co·bra (k??br?)n.1. Any of various venomous elapid 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 capelo), snake (with a hood) : cobra, snake (from Old Portuguese coobra, from Vulgar Latin *colobra, variant of Latin colubra, of unknown origin) + de, of + capelo, hood.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.cobra (?k??br?) n1. (Animals) any highly venomous elapid snake of the genus Naja, such as N. naja (Indian cobra), of tropical Africa and Asia. When alarmed they spread the skin of the neck region into a hood2. (Animals) any related snake, such as the king cobra[C19: from Portuguese cobra (de capello) snake (with a hood), from Latin colubra snake]COBRA (?k??br?) n acronym for (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in the UK) Cabinet Office Briefing Room A: the civil contingencies committee that leads the UK’s responses to crises such as terrorist attacks and epidemicsCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014co?bra (?ko? br?) n., pl. -bras. 1. any venomous Old World elapid snake of the genera Naja and Ophiophagus, characterized by the ability to flatten the neck into a hood. 2. any of several related African snakes. [1810?20; short for Portuguese cobra de capello hooded snake; cobra